


I Only Want To Be With You

by dylemma91



Series: I Only Want To Be With You [1]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Amity Blight Has a Crush, Angst, Bisexual Disaster Luz Noceda, Canon Compliant, F/F, First Kiss, First Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gay Disaster Amity Blight, Hugs, Humor, Love Confessions, Lumity Month 2020, Luz Noceda Needs a Hug, Luz Noceda gets a hug, Luz Noceda has a crush, Luz realises her feelings, Romance, early dating experiences, lots and lots of fluff with just a little bit of angst, they're both learning how this whole dating thing works
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:00:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26458351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dylemma91/pseuds/dylemma91
Summary: When Luz returns to school after her confrontation with the Emperor, she begins to notice certain things about Amity. Things she was too preoccupied to notice before.Written for Lumity Month 2020.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Series: I Only Want To Be With You [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2178858
Comments: 385
Kudos: 1589





	1. Crushing Hard

**Author's Note:**

> Here is my submission for Lumity Month 2020! I hope you enjoy it :)
> 
> Just a heads up - I'm not going to be able to do all the prompts. I'm going to try to do all of the prompts for the first week, and a couple more after that, as part of this continuous story. And I may do a couple of the other prompts as one-shots that are connected to the main story, but not actually part of it.

Two weeks after her confrontation with the Emperor, Luz returns to Hexside. She’s stayed away on Eda’s orders, waiting for the furore to die down and for Eda to confirm with Principal Bump that it’s safe for Luz to return. Luz has spent the time teaching Eda how to use glyph magic, and trying to get used to Lilith.

Now she’s back, and she’s grateful for the change of scene. Eda and Lilith are working on repairing their relationship, but they have a ways to go. There’s a level of tension in the Owl House that wasn’t there before.

She’s excited to see her friends again. Willow and Gus have visited her a couple times, but she’s used to seeing them almost every day at school. And she’s only seen Amity once. Her friend had showed up the day after she’d freed Eda, out of breath from hobbling all the way there on her crutches. 

She’d seemed really worried, and Luz had been genuinely touched by it. But she was also concerned that Amity may have over-exerted herself. Her face seemed redder than usual, and Luz thought she might have a fever. 

Amity hasn’t been back since. She’d explained to Luz that her parents were keeping her confined to bed until her leg healed. Luz has missed her, and she’s worried that, since Amity snuck out to see her, she’s made a bad impression on Amity’s parents. She hopes they won’t forbid Amity from spending time with her.

As she enters Hexside and makes her way towards her locker, Luz can’t help but notice that she’s attracting more than the usual number of stares. It’s even worse than when she first started at the school.

_ I guess it’s to be expected. A lot of them probably saw me escape with Eda, and those who didn’t will have heard all about it by now. _

She’s relieved when she spots Willow and Gus. “There you guys are!” she exclaims, running up to them and pulling them into a group hug. “I’ve missed you. And it sure is nice to see some friendly faces.”

Her friends smile back at her. “We’ve missed you too, Luz,” Willow says.

“Yeah,” agrees Gus, “It’s been really boring around here without you.”

“What have I missed? I hope it won’t take me too long to catch up. Oh, hey Amity!” Luz’s attention shifts as she spots the other girl. “Your leg is healed! That’s awesome!”

Amity is getting her books out of her locker. When she hears Luz, she jumps as if startled, whirling to face her with her books clutched protectively to her chest. “Oh… hey Luz! You’re back!” she says, voice uncharacteristically high and loud. Luz notices that her face is red again.

“Hey Amity, are you okay?” she asks, approaching the other girl. “You look flushed.”

“I’m fine!” Amity squeaks. “I’ve… gotta get to class! See you later!” And then she practically speed walks away, in what Luz is pretty sure is the wrong direction.

“Huh,” says Luz, not sure what to make of her friend’s strange behavior. She turns to Willow and Gus. “Hey, is Amity okay? She was acting kind of strange just then.”

Gus just shrugs. “I’m sure she’s fine,” says Willow. She doesn’t appear concerned.

“Are you sure? She seemed kinda jumpy… and her face was really red. Do you think she’s sick?”

Willow shoots her a decidedly unimpressed look. “Um, Luz? She’s been acting like that for a while now. It’s not a new thing.”

“It’s not?” Luz searches her memory, but she doesn’t remember noticing anything strange about Amity’s behavior.

Willow just shakes her head. Gus looks confused.

“I guess I didn’t notice,” Luz admits. “Oh, no! This makes me a bad friend, doesn’t it? Something’s bothering Amity and I had no idea! I have to make it up to her! Willow, do you know what she’s upset about?” she asks frantically, grabbing Willow by the shoulders.

But Willow just shakes her head. “Firstly, you’re not a bad friend. You’ve had a lot going on lately. And second… it’s not my place to say. Why don’t you just talk to her?”

“But  _ Willooooow _ …”

“Nope!” Willow cuts her off. “C’mon guys, we’re gonna be late for class.”

  
  


***

  
  


As the three of them enter their first class of the day, the classroom goes quiet. Luz can feel the eyes of the other students on her as they make their way to their seats. She does her best to ignore them.

Their teacher is surprised to see her as well. “Oh... hello, Luz. Good to… have you back,” she says, unconvincingly. Luz tries to ignore this as well.

She does her best to focus on the lesson but keeps getting distracted, trying to figure out what could be upsetting Amity. She remembers that Amity wanted to ask someone out to Grom. She hasn’t mentioned it since, but maybe something happened with her crush?

Or maybe it’s her parents. Maybe they don’t want her to be friends with Luz anymore, and that’s why she’s acting so strangely?

Luz  _ really  _ hopes it isn’t that, but unfortunately it seems likely. She knows a bit about what Amity’s parents are like, from seeing the memory where they forced their daughter to end her friendship with Willow. And she knows they were angry with Amity for going to see Luz while her leg was still healing. They’re probably even more against the idea of their daughter hanging out with a human who literally attacked the Emperor.

Luz frets about this for the rest of the period. As soon as the bell rings and they exit the classroom, she pounces on Willow.

“Did Amity get in a fight with her parents? Did they forbid her from speaking to me?!” she whispers frantically in Willow’s ear, clutching her friend’s arm.

“No?” Willow says, seemingly taken aback. “Not that I know of.”

“Oh, that’s good!” Luz sighs in relief. “Wait, you even said that Amity’s been acting this way for a while now. So it couldn’t be that. I’ve been worrying for nothing!” She smacks her forehead in frustration. “It must be about her crush, then.”

“Her… crush?” Willow asks, and Luz realizes that Willow probably doesn’t know about Amity’s Grom letter.

“Oh, shoot! Look, you can’t tell anyone, okay? You especially can’t tell Amity that I accidentally told you! But Amity wanted to ask someone to Grom.”

“And you don’t know who?” Willow asks. Her tone is suspiciously neutral.

“No… wait a minute!” Luz narrows her eyes. “Do you already know about Amity’s crush? Do you know who it is?”

“I don’t know anything,” Willow says, unconvincingly. But she’s saved by the fact that they don’t have the next period together, and need to split up to go to their respective classes.

“This conversation isn’t over!” Luz declares, as they part ways.

Her next class is with Amity, presenting Luz with an opportunity to go straight to the source.

“Hey, Amity!” Luz says brightly as she slides into the seat next to her friend, who is idly drawing something on a bit of scrap paper as she waits for the lesson to start.

“Oh, hey Luz!” Amity replies, hastily shoving the bit of paper back in her bag. She seems… flustered, Luz thinks, taking in her wide eyes and pink cheeks. She begins to worry that her presence is making Amity uncomfortable. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Luz asks quietly, conscious of the other students. “I can sit somewhere else, if you want.”

“What?” Amity seems genuinely surprised. “No, of course you can sit here! WhywouldyouthinkIwantedyoutomove?” She says it all so fast, it’s a struggle for Luz to understand her.

“Oh, you just seem… kind of uncomfortable around me today, and I wanted to give you space if that’s what you need,” Luz explains, hoping she isn’t making things worse.

Amity’s face is really red now. “I… do?” she asks.

“Well, yeah. And I wondered if…” Luz drops her voice to a whisper, “Maybe something happened with your parents? After you came to see me? Like, maybe they forbid you from being my friend anymore, and you’re not sure how to tell me?”

She knows Willow said it wasn’t that, but she needs to make sure.

“Oh!” Amity says, and Luz could swear she sounds relieved. “No, nothing happened! They… actually don’t know I was visiting you.”

“Oh,” Luz says, somewhat reassured. “Okay.”

Their teacher begins the lesson then, putting a stop to the conversation for the time being. Luz takes notes half-heartedly as she mulls things over, every so often sneaking glances at Amity out of the corner of her eye.

_ So. It’s not about her parents. They probably don’t even know she’s friends with me, and that’s probably for the best. _

_ Then it’s gotta be about her crush. _

Luz quickly scribbles “Did something happen with your crush? Is that why you’re upset?” in the margin of her notepad and slides it towards Amity, gently nudging the other girl to get her attention. Amity reads it, and blushes harder than Luz has ever seen her blush before. Even her ears turn red. Luz can practically feel the heat radiating from her face.

She watches as Amity frantically scribbles in her own notebook. She writes something, crosses it out, writes something, crosses it out.

It seems as though the crush guess was a good one.

After a few more attempts, Amity finally settles on one and passes her notebook to Luz. The message reads:

**I guess you could say that. Nothing’s happened, though.**

The teacher glares at them, and Amity and Luz hastily resume paying attention.

For Luz, though, it doesn’t last long. Amity’s cryptic answer demands consideration. 

_ So. It DOES have to do with her crush, but nothing specific has happened. Or is it BECAUSE nothing’s happened? _

That’s probably it. Amity’s upset because her crush hasn’t noticed her yet.

_ Poor Amity,  _ Luz thinks,  _ it must be really frustrating for her. _

Luz hasn’t given much thought to Amity’s mystery crush since Grom, but she finds herself wondering again who it might be.

_ Whoever they are, she must like them a lot, to be this affected by it. _

Luz feels for Amity. It must be tough, to be super into someone and feel like they don’t even know you exist. She’s angry at this unknown person for upsetting her friend, for not noticing how amazing Amity is. Amity is great! She’s smart and talented and fun, and she’s become a much nicer person lately! She’s a great friend, and she’s  _ really  _ pretty. How could Amity’s crush not notice these things?!

_ Clearly they’re not good enough for her,  _ Luz thinks darkly,  _ whoever they are. _

The thought surprises her. Who is she to judge? She doesn’t even know this person.

Wait a minute. Is she… jealous?

_ No, of course not.  _ Luz dismisses the thought immediately.  _ I’m just concerned for my friend! _

_ The friend you shared a romantic dance with at Grom? _

_ It wasn’t like that! _

Now Luz is more confused than ever.

  
  


***

  
  


At lunch, Luz hurries to meet up with Gus and Willow. The other students are looking at her again - she can feel it - but she’ll deal with that later. She hasn’t forgotten that Willow seems to know more about Amity’s crush than she’s letting on.

When she reaches their table, she launches straight into it. “Okay, here’s what I know so far. Amity IS acting weird because of her crush, but she says nothing specific happened between them. And I still don’t know who it is. But I think you do,” she adds, looking pointedly at Willow.

Willow sighs. “I have my suspicions, but I don’t know anything for sure. And even if I did, I couldn’t tell you, Luz. I already said it’s not my place.”

“But how can I help her if I don’t know who it is?!” Luz practically whines, dropping her head onto the table for dramatic effect, “I just want to be a good friend,” she adds, feeling the need to justify her interest in this information. Whether this clarification is for Willow’s benefit or her own, she couldn’t say.

She raises her head again, looking at Willow expectantly. Willow just shakes her head.

“Look, Luz, I think if you-” she starts to say, but she’s interrupted when Boscha slams her hand down on their table.

“Saw you on the orb the other night,” Boscha says, loud enough for everyone to hear. The lunch hall is suddenly quiet.

“What were you even doing there?” she continues, “It’s not like it was your place to get involved. You’re not even  _ from  _ here. And now you’ve let that beast loose!”

“Eda’s NOT a beast!” Luz exclaims, incensed. “And-”

“Whatever she is, she’s a wanted criminal,” Boscha interrupts, “And so are you. Honestly I have no idea why they even let you come back to school. Why don’t you just leave already? Go back where you came from!”

Every eye in the hall is trained on the confrontation. 

Luz would normally shrug off the insults and hit back with a snappy retort of her own. But Boscha’s words have brought it all flooding back - Eda’s capture, Luz’s fight with Emperor Belos, the destruction of the portal that was her only way home. It’s as if she’s back in that underground room, watching it burn.

She can’t go home.

She just sits there in the face of Boscha’s onslaught, feeling the walls of the room closing in around her.

“Boscha!” yells a familiar voice, “Back off!”

Luz snaps back to the present to see Amity, who has evidently just entered the hall, approaching their table at top speed. She’s angrier than Luz has ever seen her.

Boscha whirls around to face her. “Defending the human traitor, Amity? You really have gone soft. What would your parents say?” she sneers.

“She’s NOT a traitor,” Amity says firmly, “She’s the bravest person in this room.” She addresses that last comment to the hall at large.

Then Amity turns to Luz. “Come on, Luz,” she says, holding out her hand, “Let’s get out of here.”

And Luz, still feeling a little stunned, takes Amity’s hand and lets the other girl lead her out of the hall.

  
  


***

  
  


They find a quiet spot in the courtyard. Amity leads Luz over to a bench, and they sit down. Luz can’t quite work out what she’s feeling. She’s rattled from the confrontation with Boscha, and she keeps thinking about Amity and the way she came charging in, full of righteous indignation, ready to defend Luz in front of everyone. She's never seen Amity act like that before.

Luz usually thinks of herself as the one who does the rescuing, but she's grateful for Amity's intervention. It's nice to know that someone has your back.

Her face feels warm, she realizes, and there’s a strange fluttering sensation deep in her chest.

“Are you okay, Luz?” Amity asks, bringing her out of her reverie. Luz nods vaguely. She looks down at their hands, and realizes that Amity is still holding hers. 

Amity must realize it as well, because she quickly lets go with a murmured apology. Luz feels an odd sense of loss as Amity withdraws her hand.

“I hope I didn’t overstep,” Amity continues. “I know you can handle yourself. I just - seeing her treat you like that, I just… got really angry.”

Luz is having trouble focusing on the conversation. She’s not sure why, but Amity’s nearness is a lot more distracting than usual. Their faces are close together as Amity leans in, looking at Luz with concern. There’s a small furrow between her brows, and Luz wants to reach up and smooth it away.

Has Amity always been this pretty? Her pale skin seems to glow in the dappled light of the courtyard. The confrontation with Boscha has left her with a little color in her cheeks and a few hairs out of place. It’s a good look for her, Luz thinks.

“Luz?” Amity asks again, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m okay,” Luz says. She looks down at her hand, still halfway between them on the bench. She wishes Amity would hold it again. “And… thanks.”

“No problem,” says Amity, with a tenderness that makes Luz’s heart speed up.

Luz keeps her eyes down. “She… told me to go home," she explains. "And, well, it reminded me. That I can’t.” 

“Oh, Luz,” says Amity, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We’ll help you find another way.”

“I know. I just… I need a minute.”

“Of course,” says Amity.

They sit in silence for a few moments longer, and then Amity scoots closer. Slowly, carefully, she puts her arms around Luz, who immediately leans into the embrace.

The hug is immensely comforting. Amity is soft and warm and she smells nice, and the physical contact helps to ground Luz. She rests her head on Amity’s shoulder. It feels right. It feels… good.

Really good, actually.

She doesn’t want it to end.

Then Luz remembers that Amity likes someone else, and it’s as if someone’s just thrown a bucket of cold water over her. Suddenly, it doesn’t seem right to be hugging Amity like this.

She pulls away. Amity is blushing. Luz can feel that she is, as well. She hopes she hasn’t made Amity uncomfortable.

“You should probably go and eat before lunch is over,” she says, avoiding Amity’s gaze. “I’m just going to sit out here for a little while longer.”

“Okay,” says Amity, sounding reluctant. “If you’re sure.”

Luz nods. Amity leaves, and Luz, unfairly, wishes she’d stayed.

She sits there, connecting the dots with a growing sense of panic. Replaying the hug, the scene in the hall, her admiration of Amity’s beauty. The fluttery feeling in her chest. Her jealousy whenever she thinks of Amity’s crush. 

The conclusion is obvious and inescapable. Luz feels like she’s been hit by a train.

_ I like Amity. As more than a friend. I have a crush on her. _

_ Amity has a crush on someone else. _

_ Oh, I am so screwed. _


	2. Studying Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 2 of Lumity Month. Amity and Luz study together at the Owl House.

“EDAAAA!” Luz wails as she bursts into the Owl House at the end of her first day back at school, “I have a HUGE problem!”

Eda jumps up from her position on the couch. “What happened? Was it the Emperor’s Coven? Who do I need to kill?” She looks past Luz as if she’s expecting to see the Emperor himself on her doorstep.

“No, nothing like THAT,” Luz says, collapsing dramatically onto the couch. “Eda, I have a CRUSH! On AMITY!”

“You came in here yelling over silly teenage stuff?” Eda asks, clearly unimpressed. “Don’t scare me like that, Luz. I thought the Coven was after you.”

“Sorry,” mumbles Luz, sinking deeper into the couch cushions. “And it’s not ‘silly teenage stuff’ - it’s a serious problem!”

“Why’s it a problem if you like Amity?” asks Eda, obviously not understanding the gravity of the situation. “She certainly seems to like you well enough.”

“It’s a problem because Amity has a crush on someone else!” Luz explains, flopping down onto her stomach and burying her face in the couch cushions. She just manages to avoid King, who is somehow still asleep despite all the noise. 

“Hmmm.” Eda pauses, thinking. “Do you know who it is?”

“No,” Luz says sadly, voice muffled.

“Well, then you’re not out of the running yet, kid. It might be you she has a crush on.”

Luz hasn’t considered that possibility. She raises her head slowly, looking at Eda hopefully. “You really think she might like me?”

Eda shrugs. “It’s possible. You two spend a lot of time together, and you did dance with her at Grom.”

Those things are true, Luz thinks. But…

“But Amity is so pretty, and popular, and talented! And I’m… well, I’m a human, after all. I don’t know, I just feel like I’m not her type.”

“Nonsense!” says Eda. “Where’s that classic Luz confidence? Amity would be lucky to have you, kid. Not every witch could hold their own against the Emperor himself, you know.”

Luz smiles. She’s not convinced, but she does appreciate the compliment. “Thanks, Eda.” She sighs. “What do you think I should do now? Try to figure out if she likes me back? How would I even do that?" She's out of her depth here. Most of what she knows about romance comes from the fanfiction she read back in the human realm, and she's not sure how realistic any of that stuff is. "Do I need to, like, start wooing her or something? Eda, I do NOT know how to woo someone!” she wails.

“Hey, calm down, one step at a time,” Eda says. She taps her chin thoughtfully. “Why don’t you invite her to come over after school tomorrow?

Luz thinks it over. “I guess I could,” she says, somewhat hesitantly, “If you think it’s a good plan.”

It’s not that she doesn’t want to spend time with Amity - quite the opposite. But the idea of hanging out with Amity one-on-one makes her nervous in a way it never has before.

“It’s a great plan! You’ll get to spend more time with her, and we can observe her for any clues that might indicate whether or not she has feelings for you,” Eda explains.

“Okay,” Luz reluctantly agrees. “I’ll ask if she wants to come here to study after school tomorrow.”

She still thinks there’s very little chance that  _ she’s  _ the one Amity has a crush on. But she figures it can't hurt to try Eda's plan. It means getting to spend more time with Amity, after all.

Then King wakes up and starts demanding attention, and Luz is only too happy to oblige him. She could use the distraction.

When Luz heads up to her room later that night, she remembers that she hasn’t actually invited Amity to study with her yet. She starts to compose a message, but nothing she types looks quite right.

_ I’ll just have to ask her at school tomorrow, _ she decides. Hopefully, it will be easier to talk to Amity in person.

  
  


***

  
  


As she makes her way to school the next morning, Amity can’t help worrying slightly about the day ahead. Yesterday was… strange, to say the least. And with Luz back at school, she doesn’t think today will be any less stressful. 

First, there’s the fact that Luz has suddenly started picking up on Amity’s complete inability to function around her, although she apparently hasn’t yet figured out the reason for said behavior. Luz’s persistent questioning in class yesterday, while obviously coming from a place of concern for Amity, was alarming, to say the least. Luz is all about helping her friends - it’s one of the things Amity loves about her - and Amity knows she’s not going to just let this go.

Then, there was her very public confrontation with Boscha. Amity’s still not entirely sure what came over her back there. She remembers the surge of anger at the sight of Boscha harassing Luz, and then before she knew it she was standing up to Boscha in front of the entire school. She doesn’t regret it - it was the right thing to do, and she’s already made it pretty clear that she’s no longer friends with Boscha. But she’s a little stunned at her own boldness.

Out in the courtyard with Luz, Amity had worried that she might’ve been wrong to intervene. Luz is more than capable of fighting her own battles, and Amity had belatedly realized that perhaps the other girl might not appreciate her getting involved.

But Luz had seemed… grateful, actually. Well, truth be told she’d seemed a little out of it. Boscha had clearly struck a nerve when she told Luz to go back where she came from. Amity feels her anger at her former friend rise once more when she thinks of Luz, sitting sadly on the bench, remembering how she was forced to destroy her only way home.

(There’s a small selfish part of Amity that rejoices in the fact that Luz might be staying in the Boiling Isles for longer than originally anticipated, but she pushes those thoughts away whenever they surface. Luz needs to be able to go home, and Amity will help her in any way she can.)

Luz is generally such a happy, confident person that it was strange for Amity to see her like that - subdued and sad and unsure of what to do. It made Amity’s heart ache, and she’d… well, she’d wanted to comfort her.

When Amity thinks of how she’d hugged Luz, she can’t help blushing faintly at the memory. She truly doesn’t know where she got the courage to do it - normally any show of physical affection towards her crush is something she’d overthink and obsess over and eventually chicken out of. But in the moment, it had just seemed like the right thing to do.

And it had been  _ so  _ nice. Luz has hugged Amity before, but this was different. The way Luz had relaxed into the embrace, how she’d let Amity hold her close for almost a full minute, just the two of them sitting together in silence. How she’d rested her head on Amity’s shoulder. Just thinking about it makes Amity’s heart race.

It had felt so good, so  _ right _ that she was sure Luz must feel it as well. And for a second, she’d dared to hope…

But then Luz had abruptly pulled away, and she’d asked Amity to give her some time alone. Well, that wasn't exactly what she'd said, but the meaning was pretty clear. And Amity can’t help wondering if she did something wrong.

She hasn’t talked to Luz since, and she’s pretty nervous about seeing her today. 

Briefly, Amity considers ditching school and hiding out in the woods for the day. Her siblings have certainly done similar things in the past. But that’s never really been her style, and if the incident with Grom taught her anything, it’s that she needs to face her fears.

Resigned, she approaches the front entrance and heads inside.

  
  


***

  
  


Amity manages to go most of the morning without seeing Luz, which is both a relief and a disappointment. But as she’s getting books from her locker between classes, her luck runs out. She turns to head to her next class, and finds herself face to face with a certain human.

“Oh, hey Amity!” Luz says brightly, “Didn’t see you there.” She’s leaning against the lockers, one hand on her hip. The pose seems… deliberately casual. Which is not a word Amity normally associates with eager, excitable Luz.

“Oh - you didn’t?” Amity asks, confused. “But, this is my locker…”

She trails off, blushing.  _ Would it kill you to say something intelligent for once?! _

“Oh, right. So it is,” says Luz, a little sheepishly, breaking her pose and standing normally again. Her cheeks are slightly pink. Idly, Amity wonders if she’s sick.  _ She IS acting kind of strange… _

“Actually,” Luz continues, shuffling her feet, “I was looking for you. I, uh, wanted to ask if you’d like to come to the Owl House after school today. To, um, study. With me.”

“Oh,” Amity says, blushing again at the thought of spending extra time with Luz, “O-okay. Are, um, Willow and Gus coming too?”

“Actually…” Luz hesitates, and the color in her cheeks grows more prominent, “I was thinking it would just be… you and me. If that’s okay! It’s fine if it’s not. I just thought that maybe I could… study your abominations! I haven’t found the glyph for making those yet, and this could really help me!” Her voice gets faster and louder throughout, until she’s practically shouting.

Amity blinks. Okay, so just the two of them then. Studying together. Alone. 

It’s an invitation which is equal parts thrilling and terrifying. 

_ You can do this! _

“That, uh, sounds good!” Amity says, trying to convey a normal level of enthusiasm. Her voice comes out high and squeaky, making her cringe.

_ One of these days I really should just cast a spell to make the floor swallow me up. _

“Okay, great!” says Luz, sounding relieved. “Let’s meet out front after school. Anyway, gotta get to class! See you then!” And she dashes off in the other direction.

“See you then,” Amity calls after her, faintly. She replays the conversation in her head as she heads to her own class, trying to make sense of it. One detail in particular suddenly registers in her brain.

_ Wait a minute. Was Luz… blushing? _

  
  


***

  
  


The school day seems to simultaneously drag on interminably and speed by in the blink of an eye. When the final bell rings, Amity’s stomach churns with a combination of excitement and dread. She quickly packs up and exits the classroom, practically trembling with nervous energy. 

She spends a few moments at her locker, giving the other students time to leave the premises. She’s awkward enough around Luz without an audience present. Once the hallways are quiet, she heads to the front of the school.

Luz is sitting on the steps, idly looking at something on her phone while she waits for Amity. “Hey,” says Amity quietly, to alert Luz to her presence.

Luz looks up with a smile. “Oh, hey Amity! Shall we?” she asks, standing and gesturing towards the path that leads towards the Owl House. Her voice is oddly loud again. Amity just nods, feeling shy.

She really hasn’t spent that much time alone with Luz. At least, not without there being some sort of bigger problem for her to focus her attention on. The last time was when she went to visit Luz the morning after Eda’s almost-petrification, and she’d been so beside herself with worry on that occasion that she’d managed to keep her other feelings in check, at least for the most part. 

Amity doesn’t think she’ll be so lucky today. She’s already frazzled, and they’ve barely left the school. It doesn’t help that Luz is uncharacteristically quiet, so Amity can’t focus on her words. She enjoys listening to Luz’s excitable chatter. In its absence, she finds herself worrying over the silence, and wondering if she should break it.

She sneaks a glance at her crush, walking beside her. Amity knows she’s got it bad for Luz, but she even likes the way Luz  _ walks. _ Is that a normal thing? Everything Luz does is just so expressive, and unapologetic. Even when she’s just walking down the street, there’s a self assuredness to her that Amity can’t help but admire. She’s comfortable with who she is, unlike Amity, who’s spent most of her life pretending to be someone she isn’t.

_ I’m done with that now, _ she reminds herself.

As if she can feel Amity’s eyes on her, Luz glances her way. Amity blushes, ashamed to be caught staring. Luz smiles at her, not seeming to notice or care. Then her gaze shifts to the stack of books that Amity has brought with her.

“Hey, want me to carry those for you?” Luz asks eagerly. Without waiting for a reply, she gallantly scoops them out of Amity’s arms. It’s a bit of an awkward balancing act, since Luz is carrying a couple books of her own, but she manages.

“Uh, thanks.”

“No problem!”

Obviously, Amity can carry her own books, and she’s not sure why Luz felt the need to take them, but she doesn’t mind. It’s a nice gesture, one that could even be interpreted as romantic. 

Knowing Luz, though, it probably isn’t. Luz likes doing things for her friends. It’s another thing Amity appreciates about her, even if it makes the other girl’s signals somewhat hard to interpret. Luz is all about big gestures, and Amity doesn’t know how to tell if any of those gestures have romantic undertones, or if they’re all just things Luz does for her friends.

_ Like offering to take my place as Grom Queen. Was that friendship, or something more? _

_ We danced together, and she offered to go to Grom with me, but she also said that’s what friends do. So maybe she didn’t mean anything romantic by it. _

Amity regularly tortures herself with these kinds of thoughts, trying to determine the significance of every interaction she’s ever had with Luz. But she knows, deep down, that the only way she’ll ever know how Luz feels is if she asks her.

_ If only that weren’t such a terrifying prospect! _

“Whatcha thinkin' about?” Luz asks, breaking Amity out of her reverie. She’s got the stack of books balanced under her chin, and looks far cuter than she has any right to.

“Uh, nothing much!” Amity says quickly, cursing herself for getting so easily flustered. “Just, uh, thinking about what we should study first!”

_ Seriously? Could you be any more boring?  _

Luz nods seriously, clearly prepared to take her at her word. “I was thinking maybe you could talk me through your process for summoning abominations, and then if you wouldn’t mind, maybe you could summon one and let me examine it for a bit? Hopefully the glyph I’m looking for will be somewhere on it, or maybe inside of it.”

“That sounds fine,” Amity agrees, grateful for the safe topic of conversation. “I could start with some of the theory now, while we’re walking.”

Luz agrees, and so Amity spends the rest of the walk explaining the finer points of abomination summoning. This, at least, is something she can talk about without blushing or stumbling over her words.

She also insists on taking a turn carrying all the books. It’s only fair.

  
  


***

  
  


“Ugh, where IS it?” Luz growls, clearly frustrated. They’ve been practicing on the grounds just outside the Owl House for the past half hour or so. Amity has been summoning abominations for Luz to examine, but the other girl clearly hasn’t found what she’s looking for yet.

It’s a long time to be constantly summoning abominations, and Amity is beginning to tire, though she’s doing her best not to show it.

“Maybe the glyph isn’t on the abomination itself?” Amity offers, trying to be helpful.

Luz brightens immediately. “Hey, I bet you’re right! It probably appears during the summoning process, rather than on the finished product!” She practically bounces back over to Amity. “Could you summon one more? I’ll watch the process really closely this time!”

Amity lets her current abomination collapse, enjoying the momentary relief from the strain.

_ Just one more, Amity. You can do this. For Luz. _

“Okay, I’m about to start,” she tells Luz. “Watch closely.”

Luz nods, crouching down and staring intently at the patch of ground Amity indicates.

_ She’s so cute, _ Amity thinks, smiling to herself as she begins the spell.

Either Amity is more tired than she realizes, or else she’s just very distracted, but the resulting abomination is a lot smaller than usual, and also looks suspiciously like…

_ Oh, NO! _

“Hey, I think I saw something that time! Could we maybe…” Luz trails off as she looks up, catching sight of the abomination. “Hey, is that… me?”

Amity lets the abomination collapse with a squeak of embarrassment.  _ Quick, find a way out of this! _

“Sorry, Luz! I’m just, uh, really tired, and you were right there while I was making it, and I must have modeled it off you without realizing!”  _ Oh, great job Amity. Very convincing. _

Luz studies Amity for a moment, her face unreadable, while Amity fights the urge to run away. Then her face breaks into a wide, happy smile. “Hey, it’s fine! You should have told me you were tired. Let’s go inside and take a break.”

Amity nods, relieved, and they head inside.


	3. Azura Book Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day three of Lumity Month. The first meeting of the Azura Book Club takes place, and Amity has dinner at the Owl House.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit of a shorter chapter, but it sets us up for tomorrow's prompt :)

When they enter the Owl House, Luz gestures for Amity to sit on the couch, before heading into the kitchen to get some snacks for the two of them. There, she runs into Eda, who pulls her aside.

“How’s it going?” Eda asks quietly, in full co-conspirator mode.

Luz frowns. “It’s hard to say. She DID make an abomination that kinda looked like me…”

“Hmm,” Eda considers, “I’d say that’s a good sign.”

“Yeah?” Luz smiles, then frowns. “She said it was an accident. I think summoning all those abominations for me really tired her out.” She looks at Eda, wide-eyed, as another thought occurs to her. “I shouldn’t have asked her to do so many of them! Oh, I hope she isn’t upset with me!”

“Relax, kid. I’m sure she’s fine. And hey, if you want to make it up to her, you could always invite her to stay for dinner,” Eda suggests. 

Luz perks up instantly. “That’s a great idea! That way she can rest a bit before she has to walk home. Thanks, Eda!” She grabs the snacks and heads back out. 

“Hey Amity!” Luz calls as she enters the living room, “Do you want to stay for dinner? Eda says it’s fine.”

Amity looks up, eyes wide. “Oh! Um, yeah! I’d love to. I mean - that would be nice.” Her cheeks are pink. Luz hopes this is a good sign, and not a sign that she’s making Amity uncomfortable. “I’ll just send my parents a message and let them know I’ll be home late,” she adds, summoning her scroll.

“Great!” says Luz, smiling brightly. “Hey, do you want to hang out in my room while we wait for dinner? I think we’ve done enough studying for one day.”

Amity smiles tentatively. “Sure,” she replies, and they take the snacks and head upstairs.

  
  


***

  
  


Amity’s only been in Luz’s bedroom once before, on the day of Grom. She hadn’t thought too much about it then - she’d had other things on her mind on that particular occasion. But now, without an immediate problem to confront, she’s struck by the fact that she’s _in Luz’s bedroom._ Her private space. Where she sleeps, where she keeps her things.

She feels a little like an intruder, but she also can’t help herself from looking around curiously. Luz doesn’t have much - she’s only been here for a short time, after all, and she didn’t bring very much with her - but she’s clearly made this room her own. From the Azura books on the shelf, to the drawings Luz has made scattered about the place, to the otter costume peeking out from the chest in the corner, everything in the room screams _Luz._

Being surrounded by her crush’s things is… oddly intimate. Amity hastily pushes _that_ thought away, fighting hard to keep from blushing.

“So...” Luz says, turning to look at her, “What do you want to do?”

In the present circumstances, even such an innocuous question as that is enough to make Amity lose the battle. She can feel her face flushing bright red as images of what she would very much like to do with Luz form unbidden in her mind.

_Well, Luz, I’d really like to kiss you. On the lips. And maybe snuggle with you while we read a book or watch a movie… and FOR TITAN’S SAKE AMITY PLEASE THINK OF SOMETHING, ANYTHING ELSE!_

“Uhhh....” she says, very articulately, practically begging her brain to start working again. Then she remembers something Luz mentioned a while ago. “We… never did start that Azura book club, did we?”

“Hey, you’re right!” Luz exclaims, face alight with that characteristic Luz enthusiasm. “Let’s do it! Should we start with the first book? Or do you want to discuss the series as a whole first?”

“Uh…” It’s hard enough to keep up with Luz when she gets like this, even without Amity’s crush-induced inability to think straight. “Maybe we could discuss our favorite moments from the series as a whole?”

“Okay! Do you want to go first?”

Amity _really_ does not. They’re her favorite books, but right at this moment she can barely remember a single thing that happened in them.

“No, it’s okay, you go first,” she stalls, and Luz, never one to need much encouragement to talk, launches into a discussion about the first time that Azura and Hecate teamed up together. Amity’s more than happy to sit and listen for a while.

Really, she’s just happy to be here. Sure, she wishes she could stop blushing and stumbling over her words, but she’s always happiest when she’s with Luz. With her, Amity doesn’t have to hide her enjoyment of things like the Azura books. She can actually be herself. 

It’s nice.

  
  


***

  
  


By the time Eda calls them down to dinner, Amity’s grown comfortable enough to be actively contributing to the conversation. They’ve moved to discussing the major themes of the first book, although Luz mostly seems to want to talk about the relationship between Azura and Hecate, for some reason.

“Hey, do you think Azura and Hecate will end up together? Romantically, I mean?” she asks.

The question has Amity feeling flustered again. “Um, I don’t know. Do you really think they like each other that way?” she asks, wondering if there’s any deeper meaning behind Luz’s interest in this topic.

“Yeah, of course I do! They definitely have chemistry, and they’ve got that whole rivals to lovers thing going on!” Luz says confidently. “Why, don’t you?” she asks, sounding a little less certain.

Amity gets the sense that Luz really wants her to agree.

“Yeah, I think you’re probably right,” she concedes. “They would… make a good couple.” 

She watches Luz’s reaction closely, only to realize that Luz is looking back at her just as intently. There’s something in her eyes that makes Amity’s heart beat faster.

_Is this about… us?_

_Don’t read too much into it._

Before Luz can say anything else, Eda’s voice reaches them from downstairs. “Dinner’s ready!” she calls, and the moment is gone.

  
  


***

  
  


For Amity, dinner at the Owl House is a little overwhelming. She's used to quiet, formal dinners. Here, everyone is talking over each other and reaching for things and it’s a lot to take in. There’s just so much _noise._

Amity catches Lilith’s eye from across the table, and exchanges a look of understanding with her former mentor. It’s clear that Lilith isn’t fully comfortable in this boisterous environment yet, either.

Amity likes it, though. It’s so much friendlier than the dinners at her house. And there’s Luz, always passing her things (“Hey Amity, try this!”) and making sure to include her in the conversation, and just generally being her lovely self. Amity can’t help but feel welcome, even if she’s still too shy to say much.

Then, at some point during dinner, it starts to rain.

As the first boiling droplets begin to fall and Eda, Lilith and Luz run off to cast a force field around the house using glyphs, Amity sits at the table and quietly panics. She can’t go home until the boiling rain stops. What if she has to stay the night?

Amity doesn’t think she could handle a whole night here with Luz. Just the idea of being around Luz when she’s wearing pajamas is enough to make her heart race.

_The Grudgby uniform was bad enough. This would probably give me a full blown heart attack._

Luz re-enters the room, the spell having been successfully cast. When she sees Amity, she frowns and hurries over.

“Hey, are you okay? You look really pale.”

“Yeah,”Amity says, trying for a reassuring smile. “It’s just that I should be heading home soon, but I can’t leave until the rain stops.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Luz gives her a smile that is actually reassuring. “You can let your parents know, and we can just wait it out in my room! I don’t think it’s supposed to rain all night or anything.”

That’s both a relief and a disappointment, Amity thinks.

She does feel a little better, though. Luz has a calming effect on her. Well, when she’s not inadvertently turning Amity into a flustered mess, that is.

“Okay,” Amity says, “That sounds nice.”


	4. Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You guys know what this chapter is about :)

Once they’re back upstairs, Amity half expects Luz to return to their earlier conversation about Azura and Hecate. She still can’t shake the feeling that Luz might have been trying to draw a parallel to their own relationship, although she doesn’t want to get her hopes up.

In any case, Luz doesn’t bring up the subject again. “Do you want to play a game?” she asks, once they’re settled.

“What kind of game?” Amity asks. She’s learned that with Luz, it’s always best to know what you’re getting into.

“Texas hold ‘em!” Luz exclaims, pulling out a battered deck of playing cards.

Amity’s confused. “Er, do you mean Hexes hold ‘em?” she asks, thinking she might have misheard. The cards do look different, though.

“Nope!” Luz grins at her. “Texas hold ‘em is a game we play in the human realm! It’s…” she pauses, thinking, “Not that similar to Hexes hold ‘em, actually.”

“Okay, well, how do you play?”

Luz explains the rules quickly. “We'll have to modify the game slightly, since we don’t really have anything to bet with. But I was thinking we could play for questions!”

Amity’s not entirely sure what she’s getting at here. “Questions?” she asks.

“Yeah, the winner of each round would get to ask the loser a question. And the loser has to answer truthfully.”

Amity can’t say she’s super comfortable with this idea, given who she’s playing with and the secret feelings she happens to harbor for said individual. But Luz is clearly excited, and in any case Amity doesn’t really want to try and explain why she’s not too keen.

“Okay,” she agrees. “But nothing too personal, alright?”

“Deal,” Luz promises.

They play, and Amity wins the first round. It’s hard coming up with a question on the spot, and she ends up just asking Luz what her favorite color is. 

“Purple! Let’s play another round.”

When Luz wins, she asks Amity what her favorite food is. They continue in this vein for the next couple of rounds, just asking really basic questions. Then Luz asks Amity why she decided to study the Abomination track.

Amity thinks about it for a second. “I'm not sure it was ever a conscious decision,” she says. “My parents were both in the Abomination track when they were at school, and I learned how to summon them at a pretty young age. It came naturally to me, and I guess it just always seemed like the obvious choice.”

“So you didn't consider any other tracks?”

“Hey!” Amity protests, “You can’t ask another question until you win another round!”

“Guess I’ll just have to hurry up and win the next one, then!” Luz challenges, grinning at her.

Amity can’t help smiling back. “Big talk from someone who’s lost more rounds than she’s won,” she teases.

“I’m going easy on you!”

As it happens, Amity wins the next round. She wants to ask Luz something a bit more personal as well. But nothing too personal, of course.

“What’s school like in the human realm?”

She hopes that question will be safe enough. She doesn’t want to upset Luz by bringing up her mother or anything like that, but she _is_ curious to know more about what her life was like before she came to the Boiling Isles.

Luz seems to take her question in stride. “It’s pretty different,” she says. “There’s no magic, obviously, so we learn subjects like English and Math and Science and Social Studies. We don’t specialize in any one particular subject until we’re much older.”

Luz elaborates a little on the different subjects. It’s certainly interesting, especially science, which kind of seems like the human equivalent to magic. Only without the actual magic, of course. Amity has a hard time conceptualizing some of what Luz describes. Like electricity, for example. _How can they make light without magic?_

The next time Luz wins a round, her question takes Amity by surprise. “Why do you dye your hair?” is what Luz asks.

This is kind of a sensitive subject for Amity, but she tries not to let it show. “Well… actually it was my mom’s idea,” she says. “She… wanted me to look more like her, and more like Edric and Emira.”

“Wow,” Luz says, sounding rather stunned. “So… it wasn’t your choice?”

Amity shrugs. “Not really.”

“Which way do you prefer it?”

Amity looks down at her hands, resting in her lap. “I liked my brown hair,” she admits. “But I don’t, like, hate this color, or anything,” she adds quickly, not wanting to bring the mood down over something as trivial as hair dye.

She looks up. Luz’s expression is serious. The other girl seems to be weighing her words carefully. 

“You’d look great whatever color your hair was,” Luz says, after a few moments of consideration. “You look great now. But for what it’s worth, I think your brown hair is really beautiful. And even if it wasn’t, you shouldn’t ever have to change your appearance based on what someone else wants. It should be your choice!”

Amity blushes when Luz tells her she looks great _(Does she think I’m pretty??),_ but by the time Luz has finished speaking, her obvious sincerity has Amity almost on the verge of tears. It’s some pretty serious emotional whiplash.

“Thanks, Luz,” she says quietly. “It… means a lot to hear you say that.”

"No problem," Luz says, and then scoots over to Amity, putting an arm around her shoulders and giving her a friendly squeeze.

Now Amity's back to being flustered. Her crush’s penchant for expressions of physical affection is probably going to be the death of her. But, she supposes it’s not a bad way to go.

  
  


***

  
  


They mainly give up on the game after that, and just sit side-by-side, taking turns asking each other questions. Luz has really enjoyed learning more about Amity, although some of what she hears disturbs her. She can’t believe Amity’s mother essentially forces her to dye her hair. Though perhaps it shouldn’t be so surprising, given that her parents also forced her to end her friendship with Willow. Amity doesn’t talk about them much, but it’s clear when reading between the lines that her parents exert an unnatural amount of control over her life. Knowing this, it’s easier to understand Amity’s behavior back when they first met.

But, as much as she feels she’s learned, there is still one question whose answer Luz hasn’t been able to confirm. One question she very much wants to ask, even though she’s scared of what the answer might be. 

She wants to respect Amity’s boundaries, though. And Amity has made it pretty clear that she doesn’t want to tell Luz who she has a crush on.

But maybe there’s a way to find out without asking Amity to come right out and say it.

“Okay,” Luz says, when it’s her turn, “Tell me one thing about your crush.”

Amity’s eyes go wide. “I-I thought we agreed nothing too personal!” she protests.

“It can be something small,” Luz says quickly. “Not anything that would give it away. But you don’t have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable.”

Amity considers. “Okay,” she agrees. “Something small. Well, um, it’s a girl. The person that I have a crush on.”

_A girl, huh? Good to know,_ Luz thinks, smiling inwardly. She's still in the running.

“Your turn to ask a question,” she reminds Amity.

Amity takes her time. She fidgets a little, clearly mulling something over, then seems to steel herself. “Do you like anyone?” she asks.

“Yes,” Luz says, without hesitation.

Amity's eyes go wide. “Oh? You do? Who?”

“Hey, no fair,” Luz protests, laughing. “The most you’ve told me about your crush is that she’s a girl.”

“Okay, fine. Just tell me something minor, then,” Amity says quickly. Clearly, this topic interests her.

Luz can do that. “The person that I like is also a girl,” she says, observing Amity intently for any sign of a reaction.

Amity is looking at her just as intently, hanging on her every word. The air between them feels charged, like it did earlier in the evening when they were discussing the possibility of Azura and Hecate getting together.

Then, they had been interrupted before Luz could work out if the tension between them meant what she thought it did. Now, she thinks she knows the answer.

She really hopes she’s right.

“Oh - she is?” Amity asks, a little breathlessly.

“Yes,” Luz says, holding Amity’s gaze. She’s ready to take a risk. “Also, she really hated me when we first met,” she adds, with a wry smile.

Amity’s eyes are wide, her expression hopeful and disbelieving. “She did?”

Luz can only nod. She's made it pretty clear who she's talking about, and now her heart is racing as she waits to learn her fate. Silently, she wills Amity to say something, anything else, to give her an answer one way or the other.

She doesn’t have to wait long. Amity squares her shoulders, looking determined. “The girl I like is a human,” she says. And then she hides her very red face in her hands with a little squeak of embarrassment.

_That's me._

There's really no one else it _could_ be. Luz feels giddy with relief and elation and joy. _Amity likes me!_ She can hardly believe it.

Then she remembers that Amity is still waiting for her to respond.

“She likes you too,” Luz says quickly, not wanting to worry her.

Amity peeks at Luz through her fingers. “She does?”

“I do.” 

At those words, Amity lowers her hands. She meets Luz’s gaze with the happiest smile Luz has ever seen her wear.

Luz is smiling too, so widely her face hurts, but she can’t seem to stop. Not that she really wants to - not when Amity is smiling back at her like that.

A thought occurs to her. “Wait, so I was the one you wanted to ask to Grom?” she asks, remembering the note Amity had wanted to give to her crush.

“Yes,” Amity admits, a little ruefully. 

“Wow. All this time… I wish I had figured it out sooner.”

Amity smiles wryly. “I’m honestly surprised you didn’t. You - you really like me back?” she asks.

“I really do,” Luz says, nodding. Neither of them can stop smiling. Luz can hardly even believe this is happening.

“Can I hug you?” she asks, feeling the need to be closer to Amity. 

“Okay,” Amity agrees, and she slides over to Luz, who hugs her tightly.

“I’m so happy,” Luz says, resting her head on Amity’s shoulder and breathing in the faint scent of her shampoo. _Gosh, she smells good. Wait, do witches even use shampoo?_

_Not important right now._

“Me too,” says Amity. Luz can feel her relaxing into the hug in a way she never has before.

_This is a perfect moment,_ she thinks. _I wish it would never end._

The thought reminds Luz that actually, they’ve been up here for quite a while. She listens for the sound of rain, and realizes she can’t hear anything. 

“I think the rain stopped,” she says, reluctantly pulling away so that she can go to the window and check. “Yeah, it’s stopped now,” she confirms.

“I guess I should be going, then,” Amity says regretfully. “It is pretty late.”

“I’ll walk you out.” 

At the door, they hug again.

“Goodnight, Amity. See you at school tomorrow,” Luz says, wishing it were tomorrow already.

“Goodnight, Luz. I had a wonderful time,” Amity replies dreamily, then sets off down the path towards Blight Manor.

Luz watches her go, hugging herself happily. It’s all still sinking in. She likes Amity, and Amity likes her, and right now everything is perfect.

_Does this mean I have a girlfriend now?_ she wonders.

When Amity has disappeared into the night, she heads back inside to tell Eda the good news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! The first arc of this story is complete :)
> 
> See you tomorrow for "First Date"


	5. First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz and Amity go on a date :)

_Amity likes me._

It’s the first thing Luz thinks when she wakes up the next morning. Lying in bed, she smiles happily as she recounts the events of the previous evening.

_I can’t believe I was the one she wanted to ask to Grom!_

She can’t wait to see Amity again. 

Throwing off the covers, Luz quickly gets ready for school. Bouncing down the stairs, she finds Eda and Lilith already in the kitchen. In her present mood, she’s even feeling well-disposed towards Lilith, and wishes them both a cheery good morning.

“Someone’s happy,” Eda comments dryly. “Wonder why that might be.”

“I’d say chances are good that it has to do with a certain former apprentice of mine,” Lilith responds, just as dryly.

Luz looks from one to the other. “You told her?” she asks Eda, feeling betrayed.

Eda shrugs. “Didn’t know it was a secret. Besides, your little girlfriend will probably be over here all the time now. Lily was bound to find out sooner rather than later.”

That makes sense, she supposes. But…

“I… don’t actually know if she’s my girlfriend, yet,” Luz admits.

“She likes you and you like her. Sounds like you’re girlfriends to me,” Eda replies.

“We didn’t actually use that word, though. I don’t know what we are.”

The realization hits Luz full in the face, shattering her good mood. “Eda, what do I do now? I didn’t think past the admitting we like each other stage! What comes next?”

“Well, kid,” Eda says, “You should probably ask her out on a date.”

Luz considers. “A date… yeah, that makes sense. A date! Thanks Eda!” 

Good mood restored, she grabs a piece of fruit and races out the door, pausing to kiss a sleepy King on the way. “See you after school!”

  
  


***

  
  


Over at Blight Manor, Amity wakes up from a wonderful dream. She dreamed that she and Luz were at the Owl House, playing some strange human game. Luz had asked Amity about her crush, which led to the two of them confessing their feelings for one another. It's a little different from how she usually imagines it playing out, but it had been perfect all the same.

It had seemed so real…

Wait a minute. Suddenly it all comes flooding back. Luz’s invitation to come over and study, staying for dinner, the boiling rain and-

_It wasn’t a dream!_

Amity shoots bolt upright in bed, fully awake now.

_Luz likes me back!_

She can’t get up and ready for school fast enough. Amity races through her morning routine, then heads downstairs to grab breakfast.

Unfortunately, the twins ambush her in the kitchen. “Someone was home late last night,” says Edric, leaning against the counter where Amity is trying to prepare her food. She ignores him.

“Yeah, where were you, Mittens?” Emira asks from Amity’s other side, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “You missed dinner and everything.”

“She was probably off spending time with her _girlfriend,_ ” Edric says, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“She’s not my-!” Amity exclaims, turning red with anger and embarrassment. Then she hesitates, realizing that she doesn’t actually know if her denial is true any more.

_IS she my girlfriend? We didn’t really discuss it…_

“Hang on,” says Emira, narrowing her eyes. “You _were_ with Luz!”

Amity sighs. There’s not much point in denying it. She doesn’t feel like making up a cover story, and she doubts they would believe her anyway.

_Ugh, why are they always like this?_

“Yeah, I was. She asked me for help with summoning abominations, so I went over there to study and got invited to stay for dinner. Then it started raining, and I had to wait for it to stop before I could come home,” she explains, giving her siblings a defiant look. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

“A dinner date, huh?” Edric teases. “Nice going, Mittens.”

“It wasn’t a-!”

_Or was it?_

Amity _really_ wishes she could stop blushing.

“Wait a minute,” Emira says, studying her closely. “Something happened, didn’t it? Something good?”

Amity _cannot_ handle having this conversation right now. Her face feels like it’s on fire. “NothinghappenedIhavetogotoschoolnowbye!” she says, taking her breakfast and sprinting for the door. She’ll just have to eat on the way.

“If you say so!” she hears the twins calling after her.

 _Great,_ she thinks, _just great._

  
  


***

  
  


Luz has spent the walk to school pondering what kind of date she should ask Amity on. _It’s our first date, so it’s gotta be something special._

She’s never been on a date before, but she has seen a lot of movies. _It should be something that's meaningful to both of us… maybe something that relates to a significant moment in our relationship?_

She thinks back to the night of Grom. She and Amity had danced together, had defeated a terrifying monster together… pretty significant stuff, if you ask her. Especially since she now knows that Amity had wanted to ask Luz to be her date.

Luz smiles. She has the perfect idea.

Now she just has to find Amity.

She’s in luck. Amity is at her locker. They’re both at school early (usual for Amity, less so for Luz) and no one else is around.

“Hey, Amity,” Luz says quietly, feeling suddenly shy.

“Oh, hi Luz,” Amity says, turning from her locker and greeting Luz with a soft smile.

They both just stand there, smiling shyly at each other, for several seconds. It’s a little weird, but in a good way. Then Luz remembers what she’s here to do.

She's not really sure how to start. “So… about last night…” she begins, somewhat hesitantly.

Amity looks worried. “Did you change your mind?" she asks nervously. "It’s okay if you did."

Confused, Luz quickly shakes her head. “What? No, of course not. I was going to ask if you wanted to maybe… go on a date? With me.”

“Oh,” Amity says, sounding surprised and relieved. “Yes, of course! I mean, that sounds nice.”

“Great! Are you free tomorrow, around noon?” It’s the weekend tomorrow, so they don't have to wait until after school to meet. Which is perfect for what Luz has planned. She hopes the weather’s nice.

“Sure,” says Amity, with a smile.

“Okay, meet me-” Luz hesitates. “Wait, should I come pick you up?”

“It’s probably better if you don’t,” Amity says. “Why don’t I come to the Owl House?”

“Perfect. It’s a date!” says Luz brightly. Amity shakes her head at that, but she’s smiling.

  
  


***

  
  


It’s one of those days where Luz’s crazy schedule means she doesn’t cross paths with Willow and Gus until lunch. “Hey guys!” she says happily, as she joins them at their usual table. It feels like forever since she last saw them. So much has happened.

Luz is just about to launch into a full retelling of the events of last night, when she suddenly realizes that she and Amity never discussed whether or not they're telling people about… whatever it is that they are now. She resolves to remain silent on the subject, for now anyways. 

The three of them start chatting about their days, and before too long, Amity joins them.

“Hi,” she says, “Is it okay if I sit here?”

“Of course!” Luz exclaims. Then she realizes that she’s not exactly sure where things stand with Willow and Amity at the moment. “That is, if it’s okay with you guys?” she amends quickly, looking at Willow and Gus for confirmation.

“It’s fine with me,” says Willow.

“Me too,” Gus agrees.

That settled, Luz eagerly motions for Amity to take the seat next to her. Which she does, smiling shyly at the group. Although Amity’s been hanging out with Luz, Willow and Gus more often ever since Grom, this is the first time she’s sat with them during lunch.

Luz glances around the room, wondering if anyone's noticed. She sees Boscha glaring at them from her usual table. Clearly, she’s not too impressed with Amity’s choice of eating spot. But there haven’t been any more confrontations with Boscha since the very public one a few days ago, and Luz hopes it will stay that way.

“How’s your day going, Amity?” Willow asks politely, once the other girl is settled.

“Oh, um, pretty well, I guess,” Amity replies. “How about you guys?”

The conversation picks up again. Amity doesn’t mention anything about going to Luz’s house yesterday, or about the date they're planning to go on tomorrow, so Luz doesn’t either.

It’s... a little upsetting, to be honest. Luz wants to tell her friends about this extremely significant moment in her life - it’s the first time someone she likes has ever liked her back, after all, and what’s even more amazing is that it’s _Amity_ \- but she knows she can’t say anything without making sure Amity’s okay with it first. And she can’t help worrying that maybe Amity _isn’t_ okay with it. Sure, she likes Luz, but maybe she doesn’t want anyone to know about their… relationship.

_Is it a relationship?_

Luz had thought that confessing would be the hard part, and everything else would just naturally fall into place after that. But it seems that real-life romances are a bit more complicated than fictional ones.

Then again, Amity’s here, sitting next to her, eating lunch with Luz and her friends for the first time. Just being near Amity is enough to make Luz happy. Amity, who _likes her back._

As if she can tell what Luz is thinking, Amity catches Luz’s eye. They share a small, private smile, and there's a hint of a blush dusting Amity’s cheeks.

Maybe it isn't so bad, Luz thinks, that they’re not really telling people yet. Right now, it’s like they share a secret. A very sweet secret.

But as it turns out, their behavior doesn't go entirely unnoticed. When they head off to class at the end of lunch, Willow pulls Luz aside.

“Did something happen between you and Amity?” she asks.

_Deny, deny, deny!_

“What? No, of course not!” Luz says, in what she hopes is a convincing tone. “Wh-why would you think that?”

_Hah, nailed it._

Willow doesn’t look convinced. “I don’t know, you guys are just… acting kind of strange today.”

“Oh, are we?” Luz asks, trying her best to look innocent, “I haven’t noticed anything. Anyways, gotta get to class! Bye Willow!”

 _Phew,_ she thinks, as she heads toward Potions 101, _That was close._

The rest of the school day passes without incident and Luz heads home, excited to plan her first date with Amity.

  
  


***

  
  


Amity spends the entirety of the next morning obsessing over her date with Luz.

She agonizes over what to wear, holding up different outfits in front of her mirror.

_I want to look nice for her._

_Maybe I should wear my hair down?_

She’s interrupted by a knock at her bedroom door. “Who is it?” Amity asks warily, quickly shoving the pile of clothes on her bed under the covers.

“It’s me,” says Emira, poking her head in. “Can I come in?”

Amity hesitates. “Just you?” she asks.

“Just me. Ed’s off with some friends,” her sister confirms.

“Okay," she says, after giving it some consideration. "You can come in.”

Emira enters the room, walking over to sit on the bed. “What have you got under here?” she asks, pulling aside the covers to reveal half of Amity’s wardrobe.

Amity blushes. “It’s nothing.”

“Trying to pick out an outfit, huh? Are you going somewhere special? With Luz, maybe?”

Her blush deepens. “So what if I am?” she asks, defensive.

_I knew it was a bad idea to let her in here!_

But Emira backs off. “Hey, I’m not here to tease you,” she says. “I think it’s sweet, that you like Luz so much.”

“Is it that obvious?” Amity asks, a little embarrassed.

“Yeah. But hey, it’s your first big crush. It’s to be expected.”

Amity narrows her eyes. “Why are you being so nice to me?” she asks, suspicious.

Emira sighs. “Look, I know Ed and I give you a hard time. But you’re still our sister, and we care about you. We want you to be happy.” She shrugs. “I just wanted to let you know that, as your older sister, I’m here if you want to talk.”

Amity considers. Her sister seems genuine.

“You promise you won’t tease me?” she asks.

“I promise I won’t tease you.”

It would be nice to be able to talk to someone, Amity thinks. She decides to go for it.

“Well…” she says, “Actually, when I was at Luz’s house the other night, we kind of... ended up admitting that we like each other. And we’re going on a date today. And I have NO idea what to wear!”

“What?!” Emira practically shrieks, “That’s amazing! Tell me everything!”

So Amity sits down next to her sister, and shyly tells her the whole story. 

“That’s wonderful, Mittens!” Emira exclaims, when she’s finished. “Your first girlfriend! I’m so proud of you.”

Amity blushes again. “Well, we haven’t actually used the word ‘girlfriend’ yet,” she clarifies.

“Details,” says Emira, with a wave of her hand. “Okay, let’s get you ready for this date!”

The outfit Emira helps her pick out consists of a black, off-the-shoulder top with three-quarter length sleeves, paired with a matching black pleated skirt that falls to just above her knees, and her usual dark pink tights. On her feet, she wears her black ankle boots with the yellow crescent moons.

Amity looks at herself in the mirror, fingering the straps of her black undershirt, which are visible. “Are you sure it’s okay that these are showing?” she asks Emira. She likes the top they’ve chosen, but she’s not used to her shoulders and collarbone being quite so… exposed.

“Of course! You look great,” Emira says encouragingly.

“What should I do with my hair?” Amity asks. She hasn’t put it up yet.

“I think you should leave it down,” her sister says, tucking a loose strand behind Amity’s ear. “It looks really pretty like this.”

Amity smiles at the compliment. “Okay, well, I guess I’m ready then,” she says, suddenly nervous. Nervous and excited.

She checks the time. “Yeah, I need to leave now or I’ll be late.”

“I’ll distract Mom and Dad while you head out,” Emira says. “Wouldn’t want them to see how nice you look and start asking questions.”

Amity surprises both of them by giving her sister a quick hug. “Thanks, Emira.”

“No problem.”

Emira leaves to go find their parents. Amity waits for a few seconds, then quietly makes her way downstairs and out the front door.

  
  


***

  
  


It’s just after noon when Amity arrives at the Owl House. Hooty, still wary of her after the incident on the day of Grom, lets her in right away.

Abruptly, she finds herself face to face with Luz, who is standing right there on the other side of the door. “Hi Amity!” Luz says brightly. “Let’s get going, shall we?” And then she grabs Amity’s hand, immediately pulling her back in the direction she came from. 

The entire interaction takes approximately two seconds. Amity doesn't even have time to be startled.

As the door swings shut behind them, she can hear someone - Eda, probably - calling after them. “Have fun, Luz! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t-”

The rest is cut off.

“Phew! Sorry about that,” says Luz, finally slowing down and letting go of Amity’s hand once they’re a safe distance away. “Eda has been teasing me _all_ morning. She even got Lilith to join in. So, I thought we’d better make a quick exit.”

“Er, no problem,” Amity says, just grateful that she's no longer being dragged along at top speed. Now that she actually has a moment to look at Luz, she notices that her date _(My DATE! Now there’s a nice thought)_ is carrying a large basket. She's wearing her usual cropped hoodie, shorts and leggings, and she looks every bit as cute as she always does.

Suddenly, Amity realizes that Luz is looking at her, too. And… she’s kind of staring.

Amity can feel a blush heating her face. _Am I overdressed? I knew I shouldn’t have worn this top!_

“Wow, Amity,” Luz says, finally. “You look… amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with your hair down before.”

Self-consciously, Amity tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Thanks, Luz. You, uh, look really nice too.”

“Thanks.” Luz smiles at her, and Amity smiles back, and they just stand there grinning at each other for several seconds.

Luz is the first to remember that actually, they’re supposed to be going somewhere. “Shall we?” she asks, offering her free hand to Amity.

Amity takes it, loving that she gets to just… hold Luz’s hand now. “Where are we going?'' she asks.

“It’s a surprise!” Luz exclaims, an excited gleam in her eyes.

Classic Luz. “Okay," she says, "Lead the way then.”

It’s a bit of a trek through the woods, and Amity wonders where on the Isles Luz could possibly be taking her. But as they approach their destination, she knows.

“The Grom tree,” she says, smiling as she looks up at the large tree with its lovely pink flowers.

“Yeah! I thought we could have a picnic here. It seemed like a good spot, since it’s kind of, well, _our_ tree.”

 _Our tree._ Amity likes that. She likes that a lot.

“Sounds great,” she says. “But, um, what’s a picnic?”

Luz looks confused. “Oh, do you not have those here? Basically, it’s where you sit on a blanket and eat food in a nice spot outdoors.” She holds up the basket. “I’ve got everything we need in here!”

Amity’s never really done anything like what Luz describes, but it sounds fun. And Luz has certainly chosen a romantic spot for it. It’s clear she put a lot of thought into this date.

The realization makes Amity feel warm inside. She's touched.

She helps Luz unload the basket and get everything set up. Luz has packed a variety of different foods, some of which Amity recognizes and some she doesn’t, which she arranges between them on the blanket.

“Now, we eat!” Luz proclaims. Then she hesitates. “Or wait, should we have a toast first? I brought some non-alcoholic apple blood.” 

Luz produces two cups and a bottle of apple blood, and pours them each a glass. She hands one to Amity, and raises her own. “To our first date!”

“To our first date,” Amity agrees, gently clinking her cup against Luz’s and taking a sip. 

She can’t quite believe she’s really here, sitting under a tree drinking apple blood with the girl of her dreams. Everything seems too perfect to be real.

_How did I get so lucky?_

Luz offers her a plate and begins to fill her own, helpfully explaining the dishes Amity doesn’t recognize. It turns out that they’re some of her favorite foods from the human realm, which she’s managed to recreate with Eda’s help. Everything is delicious, although very different from what Amity’s used to.

They fall into an easy conversation about school, and how Luz is finding each of the various tracks she’s studying. Then the conversation shifts to books, and what else they enjoy reading besides the Azura series. Luz talks about some of her favorites back in the human realm, and Amity mentions some of the ones she enjoys that are available here. She offers to lend Luz some of her books, next time they’re at the library. She keeps most of the books she reads for pleasure in her secret room there.

Amity is struck by how easy it is to talk to Luz. She still feels a little flustered at times, but finds herself relaxing more and more as the afternoon goes on. It’s amazing, really, how much the two of them have in common. Amity rarely gets to talk about the things she enjoys like this, with someone who gets it.

At some point, after they’ve finished eating, Luz goes quiet. She looks thoughtful.

“Hey Amity,” she begins, after a few moments, “I wanted to ask you something.”

Luz’s serious tone makes Amity nervous. “Go ahead,” she says, with some trepidation.

“Well, I was wondering…” Luz looks down at her hands. “What are we, exactly? Are we… girlfriends?”

_Oh._

Amity’s heart speeds up. “Do you want to be girlfriends?” she asks.

Luz looks up at her. “I do,” she says, holding Amity’s gaze.

Instant relief. “I do, too,” she quickly agrees.

“Great! We’re girlfriends then,” Luz says happily. Then, before Amity can quite work out what is happening, she leans over and plants a kiss on Amity’s cheek.

_Okay. Wow. That just happened._

Amity thinks she might pass out. Her face feels like it’s on fire, and her head seems to have room for only one thought.

_She kissed me she kissed me she kissed me she kissed me she kissed me..._

“Was that okay?” Luz asks, concerned.

“What? Oh, um, yeah, that was... totally fine! Definitely okay. More than okay.”

_Please, just stop talking now!_

“Okay, good,” Luz says. “I realized after I did it that I probably should have asked first.”

“It’s fine,” Amity says, desperately trying to get a hold of herself. “I-I liked it. It was... really nice.”

It’s good to know that she can make Luz blush too, Amity thinks, watching as her girlfriend’s _(her GIRLFRIEND’S!!!)_ cheeks turn pink.

Impulsively, and with a courage she didn’t know she possessed, Amity leans over and returns the gesture, softly kissing Luz's cheek.

“Now we’re even,” she says.

Amity doesn’t think she’s ever seen Luz blush so hard. It’s very satisfying.

“So,” Luz says, when she’s sufficiently recovered. “Are we telling our friends? About us?”

Amity considers. “Yeah, I think we should,” she says. “But… I don’t want the whole school to know. It might get back to my parents.”

“Okay,” Luz agrees, “We’ll tell Willow and Gus, but keep it on the down-low at school.”

They wrap up the date shortly after that. It’s been several hours, and Amity knows if she’s away too long, her parents will start asking questions.

Luz walks her part of the way home. When they eventually part ways, she gives Amity a hug and another kiss on the cheek. “See you later, girlfriend,” she says.

It’s a perfect end to a perfect day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone was wondering, the outfit that Amity wears is based on the pilot art that Dana revealed during yesterday's livestream (although her boots are the ones she wears in episode 12).
> 
> Also, because I realized that I hadn't mentioned it yet, I'm on tumblr as justamitythings if anyone wants to come say hi! :)
> 
> UPDATE 9/19: There won't be a new chapter today, because I've decided to combine the next two prompts into one chapter. The new chapter will be up tomorrow instead.


	6. Sick Day & Meeting the Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amity stays home sick from school, and spends the day thinking about her relationship with Luz. Later, she receives an unexpected visitor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late upload! I had some life stuff happen, and then I ended up deciding to combine the next two prompts into one chapter. It just flowed better this way - there was really no good place to split it up.
> 
> The good news is that it's ended up being a pretty long chapter! Hope you enjoy :)

A little over two weeks after her first date with Luz, Amity stays home sick from school. She’s got a cold, and generally just feels a bit miserable.

The past couple of weeks have been amazing. Willow and Gus now know about her and Luz, and are really happy for them. Willow has made it clear that she definitely saw it coming (“Luz finally got her act together, huh?” she’d said to Amity, with a knowing smile). Amity’s relieved that Willow is supportive. She’d been worried that her and Luz becoming a couple might upset the other girl.

They’ve been careful about the way they act around each other while at school. Amity knows that if the other students find out they're dating, her parents will definitely end up hearing about it. And she's not ready for that yet. She isn’t sure how they'd react to her being _friends_ with a human, much less _dating_ one.

She knows she’ll have to tell them eventually. But she needs more time to figure out how to do it. 

It's a conversation that will need to be handled carefully. But no matter what, she's resolved not to let this become another Willow situation. She won’t let anyone try to separate her and Luz.

So, at school she and Luz refrain from any and all displays of affection towards each other. But they have also spent time together outside of school, just the two of them, on more than a few occasions over the past two weeks. 

And although Amity has greatly enjoyed every moment of the time she spends with Luz (it’s time spent with _Luz,_ after all), the fact remains that they haven’t progressed beyond a kiss on the cheek.

Amity really wants to kiss Luz for real. She thinks she’s ready. But she isn’t sure how to ask for it, and she worries that maybe Luz isn’t ready, or maybe Luz doesn’t want to kiss her that way. And so she doesn’t bring it up.

She knows it’s still very early days. It’s only been a couple of weeks. And she can still barely believe she’s fortunate enough to even be dating Luz in the first place. She’s dreamed about this for so long, and it’s finally happening and she couldn’t be happier.

But... she wants to kiss her girlfriend. She really, _really_ wants to kiss her girlfriend.

She can’t help it. She’s liked Luz for so long, and spent so much time daydreaming about what it would be like to be with her. And kissing Luz definitely featured prominently in those daydreams.

By that logic, Amity supposes that since Luz realized her feelings later, it would make sense if she isn’t ready for kissing yet. Which is totally fine, and Amity will wait as long as she needs to.

It’s frustrating, though, not knowing where she stands.

Really, she’s just sulking because she’s sick and stuck at home, which means she won’t get to see Luz today. And Amity knows that this problem could easily be solved, if only she would just… talk to her girlfriend.

_Just ask her how she feels about it. It doesn’t need to be a big thing._

Amity knows that’s what she should do. But knowing she should do it, and actually doing it, are two very different things.

_Ugh, why is it so hard to talk about this stuff?!_

It should be easy. _“Hey Luz, now that we’re girlfriends I was wondering if maybe I could kiss you? On the mouth? Is that something you might be interested in?”_

The words sound terribly awkward even in her head. Amity can’t imagine actually saying them out loud.

Frustrated and annoyed with herself for her inability to just ask for what she wants, and not wanting to dwell on the subject any longer, Amity searches for something to distract her. Most of her books are hidden away at the library, but she does have a few here. She grabs one at random and starts reading, trying to get lost in the story.

It works for a little while, but before too long Amity finds herself reading the same paragraph over and over again.

She wonders what Luz and the others are getting up to at school.

She misses Luz.

 _You saw her yesterday,_ she chides herself, _and you’ll most likely see her again tomorrow. Don’t be such a baby._

Amity doesn’t know what it is about the transition from friends to girlfriends, but ever since their first date she’s found herself wanting to spend as much time with Luz as she possibly can. Luckily, Luz seems to feel the same way.

But now she has a headache and a stuffy nose and a bleak, Luz-less day stretching before her. Time seems to have slowed to a crawl.

Amity considers writing in her diary. Maybe it would help her to get some of these thoughts down on paper.

She looks around for it, but can't see it anywhere. Belatedly, Amity realizes that she left it at the library. _So much for that idea._

Maybe she should try drawing instead. Amity hunts around for some spare paper and her pencils, then drags the comforter off her bed, wrapping it around her shoulders as she sits at her desk, a box of tissues at the ready.

Amity originally plans to draw a scene from the Azura books, but before too long it becomes clear that the figure she’s sketching bears a striking resemblance to her girlfriend.

She decides to just roll with it. Clearly, she’s not going to be able to distract herself from thoughts of Luz today.

Amity has made drawings of herself and Luz before, but she always felt a little weird about them. She would keep them hidden away, scared of anyone seeing them, especially Luz. She’d worried that they might make Luz uncomfortable, if she ever saw them.

But now Luz is her girlfriend, so surely it’s all right to draw her? 

Amity’s earlier drawings of Luz have been quick sketches, but she lets herself take her time with this one. She gives her girlfriend a fantastical outfit, something right out of the Azura books, because she knows Luz would appreciate that. But she spends most of the time on Luz’s face, making sure to get every detail exactly right.

Amity has spent quite a lot of time looking at Luz’s face, especially recently. She thinks she knows it pretty well.

Luz’s smile. The exact shade of her eyes. Her cute little nose, and the way her short hair kisses her cheeks. These are all details Amity has memorized.

She doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to truly capture her girlfriend’s beauty. The way her eyes light up when she’s excited about something; how many different expressions she has and how quickly her face changes from one to another; how her skin seems to glow, as if she’s lit from within. How soft her hair looks, and how badly Amity wants to run her fingers through it.

It’s hard to capture all of that in a static, two-dimensional drawing. But Amity will do her best.

She ends up drawing for most of the day, occasionally pausing to sneeze or blow her nose. After Amity finishes her main drawing of Luz, she does a couple other little doodles of the two of them together. Sitting under the Grom tree, holding hands as they walk side by side, kissing…

First, she draws herself kissing Luz on the cheek. Then, she begins a drawing of her and Luz, standing close together, hands clasped between them, lips meeting in a kiss.

Just the act of drawing it makes Amity blush a little, but she keeps going. She adds little blush lines to both her and Luz’s faces. Their eyes are closed. They’re both smiling into the kiss.

 _We look so happy,_ she thinks.

She’s jealous of her two-dimensional self.

For the thousandth time, Amity wonders what it would feel like to kiss Luz. _Amazing, probably._

_No, definitely. It would definitely be amazing._

Her train of thought is interrupted when she hears the front door slam shut. “Mittens, we’re home!” Edric calls loudly.

“And we brought you a visitor!” Emira adds.

_A visitor?_

Oh, no. Amity has a pretty good idea of who that might be. And although she’s spent most of the day wishing she could see Luz, she suddenly isn’t sure if it’s such a good idea after all. She’s sick, and her hair is messy, and she’s not wearing any makeup. She probably looks terrible.

Frantically, she grabs the drawing of her and Luz kissing, takes her comforter and rushes back to bed. She shoves the drawing under her pillow - she _really_ doesn’t want Luz seeing that one - and then quickly makes her bed, before arranging herself on top of the covers and picking up the book she was reading earlier. She opens it to a random page and pretends to be reading.

A few moments later, Edric and Emira poke their heads in. “Feeling any better?” Emira asks her.

Amity just shrugs.

“We brought someone to cheer you up!” Edric says, opening the door more fully and stepping aside to reveal Luz.

“Hi Amity!” Luz says brightly. She holds up the stack of papers she’s carrying. “I took notes for you in Abominations class today.”

“Hey, Luz,” Amity says, “Come in.” She glares at her siblings. “Not you two.”

“We’ll leave you alone as long as you promise to behave yourselves,” Emira says, with a suggestive wink.

Edric closes the door most of the way, but leaves it open a crack. “If I see this door closed I’m coming in here,” he threatens, giving Amity a mock-stern look.

Amity just rolls her eyes.

When her siblings have gone, she turns to Luz. Amity can’t help feeling self-conscious. She’s hyperaware of the fact that her nose is red and her hair is unwashed and she’s not wearing her usual eyeliner. She doesn’t think Luz has ever seen her without her eyeliner before. She feels vulnerable without it.

“Hey,” she says again.

"Hey," Luz replies. The two of them exchange shy smiles.

Self-consciously, Amity runs her fingers through her hair. “Sorry, I’m kind of a mess.” 

Luz approaches the bed. “You’re still the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen,” she says sweetly, clearly picking up on Amity’s anxiety over her appearance.

Amity smiles. Luz is such a good girlfriend. She always seems to know just the right thing to say.

“Thanks,” she says, “But you’re prettier.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Agree to disagree,” Luz says with a smile. She indicates the edge of the bed. “Can I sit here?”

Amity scoots over on the bed and motions to the spot right next to her. “You can sit _here_ ," she says.

Then she thinks better of it. “Actually, maybe you don’t want to sit so close to me when I’m sick.”

But Luz is already climbing onto the bed. “I’m not scared of your germs,” she says, settling down about as close to Amity as she can get. Their arms and legs are touching.

As always, the physical contact sets Amity’s heart to racing. It amazes her that Luz can be so casual about it, when she doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to it.

Not that she's complaining, of course. She loves that Luz is so touchy, even if it still makes her feel flustered.

“I missed you today,” Luz says, and her face is just inches away from Amity’s.

“I missed you too,” Amity replies softly, blushing a little at the closeness.

“How are you feeling?” Luz asks her.

“Not too bad. It’s just a cold. I should be back at school tomorrow.”

“So witches get colds, then,” Luz says, thoughtfully. “Good to know.”

"That we do. So, how was school today?"

"Alright. Not as much fun without you there. What have you been doing?"

_Thinking about how much I want to kiss you._

Amity glances around the room, wondering what she can safely admit to. "Not a lot. Resting, mostly. I read for a bit," she says, indicating the book next to her.

She runs her fingers through her hair again. "I don't think I've even brushed my hair today..."

_Wait, did I say that out loud?_

_Oh, well done, Amity. That's a great thing to admit to your girlfriend of two weeks._

But Luz continues to live up to her reputation as the sweetest girlfriend ever. "Want me to brush it for you?" she asks, earnest as always. 

The offer catches Amity off guard. "Oh! Um..." she says, stalling for time.

On the one hand, Luz brushing her hair sounds… amazing. On the other, her hair is probably greasy and she doesn't know if it's a good idea to let Luz touch it. 

But the thought of her girlfriend playing with her hair is just too tempting to resist. "Okay," Amity says. "That sounds nice."

"Great! Where's your brush?"

"Over on the dresser," she replies, pointing. 

When Luz hops off the bed to go and grab it, Amity suddenly remembers that Luz will have to pass right by the desk to reach it. The desk, where her drawing is.

Oh well. At least it’s not the one of them kissing.

"Hey, is that me?" Luz exclaims, picking it up. "Wow, Amity! This is a great drawing!"

The compliment, coupled with Luz’s obvious appreciation, makes Amity blush. "You can have it, if you want," she offers, feeling pleased.

Luz looks up from the drawing. "Can I really? Oh, thanks Amity!" She clutches it to her chest, smiling widely. 

Amity loves how much Luz seems to love her drawing, but she's also definitely starting to feel flustered by all the attention. "Yes, it's yours. Now, are you going to get my hairbrush or what?" she asks playfully, hoping to redirect Luz’s attention back to her original mission.

"Oh! Right! Sorry." Luz returns the drawing to the desk and grabs Amity’s brush, then heads back to the bed. "Scoot forwards," she tells Amity, who complies, although she isn't sure why it's necessary. 

Then Luz surprises her for the second time that afternoon, climbing onto the bed and arranging herself so that she's sitting directly behind Amity, legs extended on either side of her.

Amity is sitting between her girlfriend's legs. She's sitting between her girlfriend's legs, and _her girlfriend's legs are touching her._

She can't think. She's not even sure if she remembers how to breathe.

Then she feels Luz’s fingers in her hair, and now she _definitely_ can't remember how to breathe. 

Gently, Luz begins to run the brush through Amity’s hair, carefully working through the tangles. Her touch is so soft, and she makes sure not to tug.

Amity has never had her hair played with like this before. She can't believe how nice it feels.

Luz takes her time, continuing to brush Amity’s hair long after all the tangles have been removed. Amity grows more and more relaxed, until she's almost on the verge of falling asleep.

Eventually, Luz sets the brush aside. "Want to lean back against me?" she asks.

Amity’s relaxed enough that for once, she doesn't overthink it. She lets herself settle backwards against her girlfriend's chest, head resting under Luz's chin. Luz wraps one arm around Amity’s waist, and her free hand continues to stroke Amity’s hair.

Amity moves her own hand to cover Luz’s where it rests on her stomach, rubbing little circles on the back of Luz's hand with her thumb. Luz gently rests her chin on Amity’s head.

Being held by her girlfriend like this is by far the sweetest experience Amity has ever had. She's surrounded by Luz; her warmth, the subtle scent which is unique to her. 

She's never felt so content.

  
  


***

  
  


Too soon, they're interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and closing. Amity jolts upright, accidentally smacking her head against Luz’s jaw in the process.

“Ow!” Luz says, startled.

“Sorry, Luz,” she quickly apologizes. “But I think my parents are home.”

 _Where did the time go?_ she wonders, looking up to check the clock on her wall. It’s almost dinnertime. Luz has been here for well over an hour.

“Oh,” Luz says, rubbing her jaw. “That’s a problem, right? Because they don’t know about me. What should we do? Should I sneak out the window?”

“Luz, we’re on the second floor. You don’t have Owlbert with you, do you?”

“No. But maybe I could climb down,” Luz suggests, getting up and going over to Amity’s window. She looks out. “Wow. We’re really high up, aren’t we?”

“You’re not trying that," Amity says, shaking her head. "I prefer my girlfriend alive and in one piece, thank you very much.”

Luz smiles at Amity. “I like it when you call me your girlfriend,” she says.

Amity smiles back. “Well, that’s what you are.”

“Heck yeah I am!”

The sound of footsteps on the stairs brings Amity’s attention back to their current predicament. 

“Okay, just, come back over here and... I don’t know, act natural,” she says, sliding back so that she's resting against the headboard once more and motioning for Luz to sit on the end of the bed. Luz quickly hurries over and sits down, picking up the stack of papers she’d brought Amity from school (which they’d both promptly forgotten about).

“So in class today we talked about the proper tone to use when issuing commands…” Luz begins, holding up her notes and pointing at a random paragraph. As she does, Amity’s bedroom door opens. Her mother is on the other side.

“Amity dear, how are you feeling- oh!” Mrs. Blight says, noticing Luz. “Who’s this?”

Amity doesn’t miss the hint of disapproval in her voice. “This is Luz,” she says quickly. “We’re in some of the same classes at school, and she brought me her notes so that I can catch up on what I missed today.”

Mrs. Blight regards Luz, her expression giving nothing away. “I’d heard there was a human studying at Hexside. How nice of you to help my daughter.” She pauses. “That’s a very… interesting uniform. May I ask which track you’re studying?”

“Oh, I’m studying all of them,” Luz answers brightly.

“ _All_ of them?” Mrs. Blight says disapprovingly, brow furrowed. “My, my, but things certainly have changed since I was at school.” She turns to Amity. “Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes, dear. And I’m sure your friend is also expected home soon.” With that, she leaves.

Her mother’s meaning is clear. _Get rid of her._

“I guess I should be going, then,” Luz says, looking a little deflated. “Eda probably _is_ wondering where I am.” She doesn’t meet Amity’s gaze, instead focusing on the pile of notes she still holds in her hands.

“Sorry about her,” Amity says softly. “That’s just… what she’s like.”

Luz looks up at her then. “Hey, it’s okay,” she says, with a small smile. Then she laughs a little, to herself.

“What’s funny?” Amity asks, confused.

Luz shakes her head. “Nothing. Just… remind me to tell you what a Karen is, some time.”

And with that, she leans forward and plants a soft kiss on Amity’s forehead.

Amity closes her eyes at the contact, feeling a light blush spread over her face. Sure, it’s not the kiss she’s been dreaming of, but it’s wonderful all the same. _Luz_ is wonderful. She’s made Amity feel immensely cared for, and Amity doesn’t deserve her.

“Thanks for coming over today, and for bringing those,” she says, indicating the notes. “I… wasn’t having the greatest day, and this really helped." She makes the admission with a soft smile.

“Hey, what are girlfriends for?” Luz replies, returning her smile. She starts to gather her things.

“I’ll walk you out,” Amity says, getting up. Then she notices the drawing on the desk. “Hey, don’t forget this,” she reminds Luz, holding it up.

“Oh, that's right!” Luz exclaims, taking it and clutching it to her chest. “Thanks, Amity. This is going up in my room as soon as I get home!”

Together, they exit Amity’s room and head down the stairs. At the door, they say a quick goodbye. Luz moves to hug Amity, then stops, unsure if it’s safe to do so.

“Better not,” Amity says quietly. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Luz says, “I understand. So, I’ll see you at school tomorrow?”

Amity smiles. “See you tomorrow.”

She watches Luz leave, wishing she lived in a world where she could invite her to stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note to say that I'm going to be skipping the next couple of prompts, but I'll be back again on 24 September with "Sleepover" :D


	7. Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz invites Amity to sleep over at the Owl House.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! :D
> 
> This chapter is essentially part 1 of the sleepover. Tomorrow's chapter is part 2.

Luz has been dating Amity for almost three whole weeks.

They’ve been an incredible three weeks - probably the best three weeks of her life. Luz absolutely loves being Amity’s girlfriend.

She still can’t quite believe that Amity is _her girlfriend._

Luz has never dated anyone before. It’s been a journey of discovery, and everything feels new and different. Like holding Amity’s hand, or hugging her, or just spending time with her, talking about books or school or anything really. Luz has done all these things with Amity before they were dating, but now it’s as though each of these actions has taken on a new meaning.

Now, she feels butterflies any time Amity’s hand so much as brushes against hers. And she loves it.

Luz has always been a pretty physically affectionate person. With her friends, with her mama, with Eda and King. And now, with her girlfriend.

_My girlfriend!_

(She likes to remind herself of that, every now and then. She has a girlfriend. Amity is her girlfriend.)

Now, whenever they hug, or hold hands, or sit close together, she feels all warm and gooey inside. Amity is so smart and sweet and pretty, and she always smells nice, and Luz likes her _so much._ She loves being close to her. She loves that she can rest her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder while they read together, or kiss her cheek, or play with her hair.

Luz is careful, though, not to do these things too often. She’s noticed that Amity still blushes a lot anytime Luz is close to her, and that Luz’s displays of affection sometimes cause her to tense up a bit and get flustered. So Luz holds herself back, not wanting to overwhelm Amity, and typically asks for permission before she initiates any form of physical contact. And Amity does reciprocate, sometimes. She just... isn’t as naturally touchy as Luz is.

They haven’t kissed yet. Not properly. Luz really wants to, but she hasn’t brought it up. She gets the sense that Amity isn’t ready yet, and she doesn’t want to put any pressure on her to do something that might make her uncomfortable. 

She’s definitely started daydreaming about it, though. A lot.

Luz has come to rely pretty heavily on those daydreams while at school. She and Amity are keeping their relationship a secret from the other students (Willow and Gus excepted) for fear of it getting back to Amity’s parents, who wouldn’t approve. This means that, for the duration of each school day, Luz must refrain from touching Amity, referring to Amity as her girlfriend, even _looking_ at Amity for too long. They’re both trying very hard to treat each other no differently than they treat their other friends, and it is absolutely testing Luz’s self control.

It’s been made worse by the fact that Amity’s been really busy this week, so Luz hasn’t gotten to spend any time with her outside of class since the day Amity was sick and Luz visited her.

They do message each other in the evenings, of course, and they video chat using their globes. Which is great, and Luz loves their conversations. But it isn’t the same as actually being with her girlfriend, in person, in an environment where they don’t have to hide their feelings for one another.

(She’s also afraid that Amity’s parents might be keeping their daughter busy on purpose, in order to prevent her from spending time with Luz. Although they clearly don’t know the whole truth, Amity’s mother definitely hadn’t been impressed when she’d come home the other day to find Luz in Amity’s bedroom. But she tries not to dwell on this.)

Luz really wants to spend some time alone with Amity this weekend. Preferably, for more than just a few hours. She’s been missing her girlfriend, and she wants to be able to just... hang out with Amity, without worrying about how fast the time is going and how soon they’ll have to leave.

She’s had the idea that maybe, she could invite Amity to come over and spend the night here at the Owl House.

_I wonder if Eda would be okay with it?_

She’s not sure. Obviously, sleepovers are a pretty normal thing, but Amity is her _girlfriend._ They’re not going to _do_ anything, of course - they’re fourteen and they’ve been dating for three weeks and they haven’t even kissed yet. But Eda might still decide that it’s not appropriate.

_Guess I’ll just have to ask her, and see what she says._

That decided, Luz heads downstairs to look for her mentor.

She finds her in the living room, reading a book on ancient magic. King is there too, but thankfully Lilith is not. Luz doesn’t think she could have this conversation in front of Lilith.

“Hey, Eda?” she begins, and her voice has gone high on her.

Eda looks up. “Yeah, kid? What’s up?”

“Well…” Luz shuffles her feet awkwardly, looking down at the floor. “I was wondering if maybe I could invite Amity to spend the night here? This weekend, I mean.” Tentatively, she looks up at Eda to see how she’s taking it.

Eda frowns. “You want your girlfriend to spend the night?” she asks. “Luz, do we need to have ‘the talk’?”

She sounds like she very much does not want to have ‘the talk’.

_No argument there!_

Luz shakes her head frantically, face going bright red with embarrassment. “No! Absolutely no talks necessary! Nothing like that is going to happen - we haven’t even kissed yet!”

Eda gives her a level look, clearly thinking it over. “Why does she need to spend the night, then?”

Luz shrugs, trying to figure out how best to explain it. 

“I just… want to spend some time with her,” she says after a few moments. “She’s been really busy, and I haven’t seen her much this week. And... I thought it would be nice if we could have more than just a few hours together, for once.”

Eda considers. “You promise to behave yourselves?” she asks, eyes narrowed at Luz.

“Absolutely,” Luz says, nodding her head emphatically. “King can stay in the room with us, if that would make you feel better. Right, King?” she adds, turning to address the tiny demon.

“You can count on me, Luz,” King replies, hand (or paw, in this case) on heart. “I’ll defend your honor!”

Luz chuckles a little at his antics. “Thanks, buddy,” she says.

Not that there’s any chance she’ll need defending from Amity. When it comes to advancing their relationship, Luz has generally been the one to take the first step.

Sometimes, she worries that maybe Amity isn’t all that attracted to her. Physically, that is - she knows Amity cares for her. But Amity doesn’t seem to feel the same _need_ to be close to Luz that Luz feels whenever she’s around Amity.

This is another topic she tries to avoid dwelling on. Hastily, Luz pushes the thought away. She focuses all of her attention on Eda, who has yet to give her an answer.

“Okay,” Eda agrees at last. “She can stay the night. But any funny business, and you’ll never be allowed to do this again,” she adds, sternly.

“Oh, thank you Eda!” Luz exclaims, rushing forward to give her mentor a hug.

“Yeah, yeah,” Eda says gruffly, “Don’t mention it.”

  
  


***

  
  


Amity’s in her room, finishing up some homework after dinner, when suddenly her globe lights up with an incoming video call. She looks over, smiling when she sees that it’s Luz.

She answers the call. “Hey,” she says happily, enjoying the sight of her girlfriend’s smiling face.

“Hey Amity! How’s it going?” Luz asks. She seems to be in a good mood. She’s full of energy and looks like she’s excited about something.

“Not bad,” Amity replies, “Just finishing my homework. You?”

She figures that will be all the invitation Luz needs to tell her what’s up, and she’s not wrong.

“I’m great! And actually, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh yeah? What is it?” Amity hopes it isn’t anything too crazy. Luz definitely has a knack for cooking up wacky schemes. She’s got the track record to prove it.

“Okay,” Luz begins, “First of all, are you free tomorrow night?”

Amity thinks about it. Her parents have dragged her along to a couple of functions in the evenings this week, but she doesn’t think she’s scheduled to attend anything tomorrow. And she’s all caught up on her schoolwork, so no worries there.

“Yeah, I think I’m free. What did you have in mind?”

“Well,” Luz says, pausing for dramatic effect, “I was thinking maybe we could have a sleepover. At the Owl House.”

_A sleepover?!_

Wow. A sleepover. With Luz. Her girlfriend. Her incredibly cute, incredibly cuddly girlfriend.

“Oh,” she says, feeling a little stunned. “Would, uh, would anyone else be there?”

“Apart from the usual suspects, no. Just you and me,” Luz answers. “I asked Eda, and she said it was okay,” she quickly adds. “But if you’d rather not stay the night, that’s totally fine! We can still hang ou-”

“No! I want to!” Amity practically yells.

She isn’t about to turn down the chance to spend a whole night with Luz, especially not after the busy week she’s had. And if she gets to snuggle with a sleepy, pajama-clad Luz in the process, well, she definitely won’t complain.

Even if just thinking about it makes her blush.

_I bet she looks really cute in her pajamas…_

“Great!” Luz says, interrupting Amity’s little daydream. “Want to just come straight home with me after school? Or do you need to go back to your house first?”

They finalize their plans and chat a little more, before saying good night. Amity’s about to return to her homework, when suddenly her bedroom door swings open to reveal the twins.

“Sounds like someone’s got big plans for this weekend,” Edric says, smirking.

Amity glares at him. “Will you two stop listening in on my private conversations?!” she exclaims.

“We heard you from down the hall,” Emira says. “If you don’t want us to listen, maybe don’t be so loud.”

Amity flushes, remembering her overenthusiastic acceptance of Luz’s invitation.

“So, did we hear that right?” Edric asks. “You’re planning to spend the night at your _girlfriend’s_ house?” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

She can feel her face getting even redder. “So what if I am?” she asks defensively.

Her siblings enter her room and walk over to the bed. Amity considers pointing out the fact that she hasn’t said they could come in, but she knows it wouldn’t stop them.

The twins sit themselves down side-by-side on the bed, facing her where she sits at her desk. Amity gives them a flat look, wishing they would just go away.

“Mittens,” Emira says, in a mock-serious voice, “Do we need to have ‘the talk’?”

She’d thought she’d been blushing before, but that was nothing compared to this. Amity is sure her face must be bright red. “What?! No! _Definitely_ not!” she sputters, wishing she could just disappear. “It isn’t like that!”

“Oh, isn’t it?” Edric asks, making a piece of paper appear with a wave of his finger and holding it up for Amity to see. “This would suggest otherwise,” he says, with a knowing smirk.

It’s her drawing. The one of her and Luz kissing.

“Give that _back!_ ” Amity squeaks, jumping up from her chair and lunging at him. “How did you even _get_ that?”

“We have our ways,” Edric says calmly, holding the drawing just out of reach.

Clearly, Amity needs to get a lock for her bedroom door.

“We’re just looking out for you, Mittens,” Emira says sweetly, as Amity climbs onto the bed and finally manages to snatch the drawing back from Edric. “This is your first girlfriend, after all. We just want to make sure you’re not rushing into anything.”

Amity clutches the drawing protectively to her chest. “We’re not! We haven’t even kissed yet,” she admits.

“Oh?” Emira says, sounding surprised. “Why not?”

Amity shrugs, feeling awkward. “I don’t know.”

“Do you want to?” her sister asks.

“Ye- I mean, I don’t want to talk about this!”

Amity _really_ wants this conversation to be over. It’d be one thing if it was just Emira, but when the twins are together she always feels outnumbered and on the back foot. And she definitely does _not_ feel like discussing her insecurities about the fact that she and Luz haven’t kissed yet. She’s flustered enough as it is.

“Okay, okay.” Emira says, holding up her hands in a placating gesture.

“So…” Edric chimes in, “What were you planning on telling Mom and Dad?”

Amity sighs. She’s still trying to figure that out. Normally, she explains her Luz-related absences by saying she’s studying at the library, but she can’t exactly use that excuse this time.

“I was thinking I could tell them I’ve been invited to stay at Boscha’s house, but then I realized they’ll probably talk to Boscha’s parents and find out I lied,” she says. “So I’m not really sure what to do, but I’ll think of something.”

The twins exchange a brief look, then turn back to Amity.

“Don’t worry about it,” Edric says. “We’ve got you covered.” Together, he and Emira cast a spell circle, producing an illusion clone of Amity.

Clone Amity glares at them. “Could you please get out of my room?!” she says angrily, pointing at the door. “I’d like to be left alone to brood about the fact that I haven’t kissed my girlfriend yet in peace!” Dramatically, she crosses her arms and starts tapping her foot impatiently, still glowering at the three of them.

Amity rolls her eyes. “Very funny.” She walks over and pokes her clone self in the forehead, making her disappear. “But you’ll have to do better than that if you’re going to fool them.”

“Don’t worry, Mittens,” Emira says. “We won’t let you down.”

She turns to her siblings. “You… you would really do that for me?”

“Of course,” Edric promises. “It’s us against them, always.”

Emira nods her agreement.

It’s funny, Amity reflects, how much her relationship with the twins has improved since she became a rule-breaker like them. They may still tease her, but when it comes down to it, they’re all on the same side.

  
  


***

  
  


After school the next day, Luz and Amity make their way to the Owl House. They stop off at Blight Manor first, so that Amity can grab her things. It’s early enough that her parents shouldn’t be home yet, but Amity goes in alone, just in case.

While she waits at the edge of the woods for Amity to return, Luz thinks about the evening ahead. She’s both extremely excited and a little nervous at the prospect of spending an entire night with her girlfriend. She wants tonight to be really special, and for them to hopefully take a step forward in their relationship.

She wants to kiss Amity. But only if Amity’s comfortable with it, of course.

Her train of thought is interrupted when Amity returns, satchel and sleeping bag in tow.

“Got everything you need?” Luz asks brightly. “Want me to carry anything?”

“Yes, and I’m fine,” Amity replies with a smile. “It’s not that heavy.”

Luz insists on taking the sleeping bag anyway.

“Shall we, then?” she asks, holding out her hand.

“We shall,” Amity agrees, taking it, and they walk the rest of the way to the Owl House hand in hand.

Once they arrive, they drop off Amity’s stuff in Luz’s room and then head downstairs to hang out on the couch for a bit. King is home, but Eda and Lilith are out somewhere.

“What do you want to do first?” Luz asks. “We could play a game, watch a movie, just sit and talk for a bit…”

Now that she finally has her girlfriend all to herself, Luz feels almost shy. There’s so much she wants to do with Amity, and she isn’t sure where to start.

Amity seems to be feeling shy as well. She’s sitting a little stiffly, and she’s keeping a bit of distance between herself and Luz on the couch. Luz would really like to close that gap, but Amity doesn’t seem ready for that and that’s okay.

“Why don’t we play a game?” Amity suggests, after a few moments of consideration.

“Sounds good,” Luz agrees. 

They play a few rounds of Hexes Hold’em, and before too long they’ve well and truly gotten into the game and are feeling much more comfortable with each other. There’s a lot of good-natured trash talk happening.

“I can’t believe my own girlfriend would betray me like this!” Luz exclaims, clutching her heart in mock-anguish when Amity pulls a wild card on her.

“Being my girlfriend comes with many perks, but getting special treatment during competitive games is not one of them,” Amity says, winking at Luz. “I play to win.” 

Luz is pretty sure all the blood in her body comes flooding to her face at the sight of that wink. This is the first time Amity’s flirted with her so blatantly and it… does things to her. She has to stop herself from kissing her girlfriend right then and there.

Later. She hopes.

Eda and Lilith arrive home shortly after the game ends, and they’ve brought dinner with them from one of the restaurants in Bonesborough. Dinner is a lively affair, and Luz is pleased to see that Amity contributes to the conversation a lot more than she did the last time she ate here. Clearly, she’s growing more comfortable around Luz’s strange family.

After dinner, Eda and Lilith retreat upstairs. Eda gives Luz a stern look as she goes. “No funny business,” she reminds them, causing both Luz and Amity to blush.

They exchange awkward looks. “Sorry about that,” Luz says apologetically.

“It’s okay,” Amity replies, not quite meeting Luz’s gaze. “Ed and Em gave me a hard time, too, when they found out I was going to be staying over.”

Sensing that they’d both appreciate a change of subject, Luz asks Amity if she wants to watch a movie. “I have all of the Good Witch Azura movies,” she offers.

“Even the most recent one?” Amity asks. “I haven’t seen it yet.”

“Perfect! I’ll grab it.”

Luz puts the DVD on, and they settle down on the couch again. King joins them, curling up on Luz’s other side and promptly falling asleep.

_Some guardian,_ Luz thinks with a smile.

Though Amity’s sitting closer to Luz than she was earlier in the evening, she’s still left enough distance between them that they aren’t touching. Luz tries not to let it get her down, but she really wants to snuggle with her girlfriend.

Maybe Amity’s just not that into expressions of physical affection, and that’s fine. But without knowing the reason, Luz can’t help but worry that it’s something to do with _her,_ specifically.

_I always did know she was way too good for me,_ she thinks, sadly.

  
  


***

  
  


Amity, for her part, is desperate to be closer to Luz. She keeps ordering herself to move, to close the distance between them and rest her head on Luz’s shoulder, but her body won’t obey her. It doesn’t help that Luz hasn’t touched Amity, either. Not since they arrived at the Owl House.

Amity’s already been more bold than usual this evening. She flirted with Luz during the card game, and it had seemed to go over well - she’d certainly made Luz blush. But that confidence is gone now, just when she needs it most.

She can barely even focus on the movie she was so excited to watch, because she can’t stop thinking about how badly she wants to be holding her girlfriend in her arms.

Amity’s never been a very tactile person. Her parents are not physically affectionate people, and after they forced her to end her friendship with Willow, there was no one in Amity’s life who she felt like showing that kind of affection to. Until Luz, of course.

Amity’s feelings for Luz are completely overpowering. She’s never felt like this about anyone before - not even close. And those feelings scare her sometimes. 

She wants to be close to Luz. She wants to kiss her and hug her and hold her and just… snuggle up to her anytime the opportunity presents itself. She wants to be able to just do these things naturally, like Luz does, without overthinking and making a big deal out of it.

But to Amity, it _is_ a big deal. Because she has so little experience with it. Because she still gets flustered any time Luz touches her.

Because to Amity, these displays of physical affection mean _so much._

She’s not used to wanting things like this. It scares her. It makes her feel vulnerable.

Amity’s already confessed her feelings to Luz. They are girlfriends. But when it comes to this, she’s still holding back. She’s still, in some way, afraid of rejection.

Luz looks over at her then. “You doing okay?” she asks, and there’s a note of sadness in her voice that squeezes Amity’s heart.

Suddenly, Amity realizes that she’s not just hurting herself by holding back like this. She’s also hurting _Luz._

Which is the last thing she ever wants to do.

She gathers her courage. 

“I’d be better if I could put my arm around you,” she admits shyly, holding up the arm closest to Luz.

Instantly, Luz closes the distance between them. She snuggles into Amity’s side, resting her head on Amity’s shoulder. Amity leans her own head against Luz’s, marveling at how soft her hair feels against Amity’s cheek.

This is _so_ much better. Now Amity can actually focus on the movie.

Well, she can focus on the movie a little. She’s cuddling with _Luz,_ after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 coming tomorrow! And I hope you're ready, because it is extremely fluffy :)


	8. First Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title says it all, really :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're all ready for some tooth-rotting fluff :D
> 
> Update 31/01: This chapter now includes artwork I commissioned from @shahsu19 on twitter :)

Luz and Amity snuggle their way through two whole movies. When the second one finishes, Luz reluctantly sits up.

“I guess we should probably be heading to bed soon,” she says, checking the time. “It’s pretty late.”

“You’re probably right,” Amity agrees, stretching. She’s interrupted by a yawn halfway through, which Luz finds absolutely adorable.

Her girlfriend is very cute when she’s sleepy.

They head upstairs. Luz lets Amity get changed in her bedroom, while she heads to the bathroom to change and brush her teeth.

When she returns, Amity is standing there in her pajamas. They’re pink, and girlier than she would have expected. Amity looks so cute and soft, and all Luz can think about is how much she wants to kiss her.

(Amity, for her part, is dismayed to learn that Luz’s pajama shorts are every bit as short as her Grudgby uniform. Also, her top doesn’t quite meet the waistband of her shorts, and Amity’s eyes go straight to the tiny sliver of exposed skin before she hastily tears them away.)

Amity goes to brush her teeth, and when she returns, she’s removed her makeup and let her hair down. 

Luz loves seeing Amity’s hair down.

_Oh boy._ She swallows thickly, for the first time fully considering the fact that she’s about to spend the whole night sleeping next to her girlfriend. Her sweet, beautiful, completely irresistible girlfriend.

Can she handle this? Suddenly, she isn’t sure.

“Are you sure it’s okay if I stay in here?” Amity asks. “I can go sleep on the couch instead.”

It’s an out, but Luz doesn’t want to take it. “Eda said it was okay as long as King is here as well,” she says, indicating the little demon, who has already gone to sleep on a corner of her bedroll. “But if you’re not comfortable sleeping in here, I totally understand.”

“No, I… I’d rather stay in here. If that’s okay with you,” Amity replies shyly.

“It’s okay with me,” Luz says, smiling.

Sure, she’s nervous. But she definitely doesn’t want Amity to sleep somewhere else.

Hesitantly, Amity approaches her. She grabs her sleeping bag, unfolding it and setting it up next to Luz’s bedroll.

“You go ahead and get settled,” Luz says, handing Amity a spare pillow. “I’ll turn off the light.”

She switches it off, plunging the room into darkness, and carefully makes her way back to bed. She can hear Amity’s sleeping bag rustling a little, and it’s strange - hearing Amity and knowing she’s there, but not being able to see her.

Luz crawls into bed, still unable to see much of anything. “Hey, where are you?” she asks, tentatively reaching in the direction of her girlfriend.

“Right here,” says Amity, and clearly she has better night vision than Luz, because she reaches up to intercept Luz’s hand with one of her own, taking it and interlocking their fingers.

“That’s better,” Luz says, giving Amity’s hand a squeeze.

They lie there in silence for a few moments, neither of them really sure what to do next.

“Thanks for inviting me, Luz,” Amity says at last. “This has been… really fun.”

“Hey, no problem.” Luz wriggles a little closer to Amity. Her eyes are starting to adjust, and she can see a vague outline of her girlfriend’s face, only inches from her own.

‘Just Kiss the Girl’ is playing on repeat in Luz’s head, but she _can’t_ just kiss the girl. She needs to ask her first.

And finding the right words is proving to be remarkably difficult.

_Can I kiss you?_

It should be as simple as that, but for some reason she just can’t seem to make herself come out and say it. Maybe it’s because she really has no idea how Amity will react.

She decides to try a different approach. There’s something she’s been wanting to talk to Amity about, anyway.

“Amity…” she begins, trying to sound more confident than she feels. “I, uh, wanted to ask you about something.”

“Okay,” Amity says. She sounds a little nervous. “Ask away.”

Luz takes a deep, steadying breath, then launches into it. “Well... I just wanted to check that you’re, um, okay with me… you know, hugging you and stuff. Because sometimes you seem a little tense, and I just want to make sure that I’m not making you uncomfortable.”

She says it all in a rush. The darkness makes it easier to get the words out, somehow.

Amity doesn’t answer right away, and suddenly the darkness isn’t Luz’s friend after all. With no way to read her girlfriend’s expression, all she can do is wait. She really hopes she hasn’t upset Amity.

Eventually, Amity speaks. “I always say yes when you ask me, don’t I?” is what she says. Her tone of voice is carefully controlled.

“Well, yeah,” Luz replies quickly, “But I worry that… maybe you feel pressured to say yes, because you’re my girlfriend. And I really don’t want that. I don’t ever want to do anything that you’re not comfortable with.”

Amity sighs, and Luz feels the _whoosh_ of air across her face. “Thanks, Luz,” she says. “It means a lot to hear you say that.”

She pauses. Luz waits, sensing there is more to come.

“This is kind of hard for me to talk about,” Amity begins, “But I’m going to try.”

“Okay,” Luz says, “But only if you’re sure you want to.” She gives her girlfriend’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

“I am. Sure, that is.” There's another pause, as Amity searches for the right words. “Look, the truth is… when I seem uncomfortable, it’s not because I don’t want you to touch me. It’s… actually because I do.” Pause. “Want that.” Pause. “Like, a lot.”

Luz tries to make sense of this. “So… wanting me to hug you makes you uncomfortable?” she asks, confused.

“Not exactly. I’m just… still getting used to it.” Amity explains. “When I’m near you, I feel a lot of things. Good things! But sometimes, it can get a bit overwhelming. I don’t want you to stop, though!” she adds quickly.

Luz is smiling. She feels a bit giddy at the knowledge that actually, Amity _really_ likes being close to her.

“Okay,” she says. “I think I understand better now. But, you’ll tell me if I ever do make you uncomfortable, right? You’ll ask me to stop?”

“I will,” Amity promises.

Luz is more than happy to leave it there for the night. She’s certainly not going to push Amity for a kiss when Amity is still getting used to hugging her. 

“Thanks for telling me all that,” she says.

“You’re welcome,” Amity replies. Luz hears her take a deep breath. “Actually, can I ask you something?” she says, and she sounds nervous.

“Of course,” Luz replies, wondering what it could be.

“Well…” Amity begins, then pauses. “You know how you said if I wasn’t comfortable with something you were doing, I should ask you to stop doing it?”

“Uh-huh,” Luz says, with some trepidation. She must have done something to make Amity uncomfortable, after all.

“Well… what if there was something I wanted you _to_ do? Could I ask for that, as well?”

“Of course,” Luz says again, wrinkling her brow in confusion. “You can ask me anything.”

She’s not sure where this is going, but she can’t imagine that Amity would ever ask her to do anything _bad_.

“Iwantyoutokissme.”

Amity says it so fast, it takes a moment for Luz to piece the words together. When she does, she can hardly believe what she’s heard.

“Could you repeat that?” Luz asks, a little breathlessly. “I just want to make sure I heard you right.”

“I want you to kiss me,” Amity says, more slowly this time. “But only if you want to!” she adds, sounding panicky.

_Oh._

So she did hear that right.

“I want to,” she says quickly.

“Y-You do?” Amity asks.

“Of course. I’ve wanted to for ages,” she admits.

“Probably not as long as I have,” Amity says, with a shaky laugh.

“Do you, uh, want me to do it now?” Luz asks, hopefully.

Amity nods. “If that’s okay.”

Luz considers the situation. “Y’know, I kind of want to see your face right now,” she says. “Hang on a sec.” Fumbling a little in the dark, she reaches for the notebook where she keeps her glyphs. She knows there’s a light glyph on the top of the stack.

“Here we go,” she says, finding what she’s looking for and carefully extracting it. She activates the glyph, and a softly glowing orb appears between her hands. “How’s that for mood lighting?” she asks playfully, sending it up towards the ceiling above them.

And oh, it’s wonderful to be able to see Amity’s face again. She’s looking up at the light, a soft smile on her lips. “It’s perfect,” she says.

Luz repositions herself so that she’s facing Amity again. They lie like that for a few moments, just gazing into each other’s eyes, silly smiles on both their faces.

“Are you ready?” Luz asks. Amity nods, looking nervous but excited.

Luz hasn’t kissed anyone before, and she doesn’t think Amity has either. She really hopes she doesn’t make a mess of this.

She raises herself up on her elbow slightly, to get a better angle. Amity adjusts herself to match, and slowly, carefully, Luz leans in.

As their lips touch, she sees Amity’s eyes widen before she closes her own, melting into the kiss.

It’s brief, and full of their inexperience. But it is utterly amazing. Amity’s mouth is soft against hers, and she feels her heart racing as warmth spreads within her.

Her mind goes quiet. There’s nothing but Amity - it’s as if they’re the only two people left in the world.

When they pull apart, Luz just looks at Amity, wonderingly. Amity’s looking right back at Luz, golden eyes shining in the soft glow of the light spell. She’s so beautiful, and they just kissed and Luz can hardly believe it.

“Wow,” Amity says, breathless and a little dazed.

“Yeah, wow,” Luz agrees, feeling pretty dazed herself.

_That was… incredible._

Then something shifts in Amity’s expression. Her eyes flick downwards to Luz’s lips, and Luz has about two seconds’ warning before Amity surges upwards, pressing her lips to Luz’s in another kiss.

She’s a little overenthusiastic, and their teeth clack together at first. But neither of them care.

This kiss is longer than the first. Amity puts an arm around Luz’s waist, pulling her close. One of Luz’s hands finds its way into Amity’s hair.

When they eventually pull away, they’re both a little out of breath.

Luz collapses back onto the bed, beaming happily at Amity. “You’re amazing,” she says, reaching up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her girlfriend’s ear.

“Thanks,” Amity says, blushing. “So are you.”

Luz is positively giddy now. She doesn’t know how she’ll ever sleep. Impulsively, she reaches over and gently taps Amity's nose.

"Boop!"

Amity giggles, and Luz could quite happily listen to that sound every day for the rest of her life. “What was that for?” she asks, wrinkling her nose, and she’s so cute Luz can’t take it.

She shrugs. "It's a human thing."

"If you say so," Amity says, smiling.

They both just lie there for a bit, enjoying the moment. Neither of them can stop smiling. 

Luz can think of only one possible improvement to an otherwise perfect situation. Shuffling closer, she drapes an arm over her girlfriend. “Is this okay?” she asks.

“Yes,” Amity says, "But I think it could be even better." Then she surprises Luz by unzipping the side of her sleeping bag. “May I?” she asks, indicating the edge of Luz’ blanket.

Luz can only nod, wonderingly. She's amazed that Amity was the one to initiate this.

Amity slides under the blanket, arranging her sleeping bag so that it covers both of them as well. Now there isn’t anything separating them. They are, essentially, sharing a bed.

This is new.

Slowly, giving Amity plenty of time to stop her if she wants to, Luz slides her arm around her girlfriend’s waist. “Is this better?” she asks, watching Amity’s face carefully. 

“Much better,” Amity says.

Luz can feel the warmth of Amity’s skin through her pajama top. It’s all she can think about.

Then, Amity surprises her again. Her hand makes its way out of the blankets and into Luz’s hair. Gently, she runs her fingers through it.

It feels amazing. Luz closes her eyes at the touch, letting out a contented sigh. 

This is the most physically affectionate Amity’s ever been, and Luz is absolutely loving it.

“Your hair is so soft,” Amity says quietly. 

“Mmmm,” Luz replies, opening her eyes just long enough to smile at Amity. “That feels really nice.” 

Idly, she begins rubbing small circles on her girlfriend’s back. It’s all very cozy and relaxing, and she’s finally starting to feel sleepy.

She’d be quite happy to just drift off like this, but eventually she remembers the light spell, which is still active. Reluctantly, she shifts her position so that she can extinguish it. 

“I guess we should probably try to get some sleep,” she says, when the room is in darkness once more. “Do you want to be the little spoon, or the big spoon?” 

“I… don’t know what that means,” Amity says, confused.

“Oh! Sorry. It’s where you both sleep facing the same direction. The little spoon is in front and the big spoon is behind, and the big spoon cuddles the little spoon,” Luz explains. “Not that we have to sleep that way, if you’d rather not.”

“No, that… sounds nice,” Amity says, then pauses. “Um. I think I want to be the big spoon?”

“Okay!” Luz agrees happily, rolling over so that her back is to Amity. She very much likes the idea of being held by her girlfriend while she sleeps.

“So… what do I do, exactly?” Amity asks.

“Well, if you want, you could put your arm around me,” Luz suggests. “And just… kind of snuggle up to me? But only if you want to. You don’t _have_ to do anything.”

Amity hesitates for a split-second, then shuffles closer, wrapping her arm around Luz’s waist and snuggling up to her. It makes Luz very happy, that Amity feels comfortable enough to cuddle her like this. She takes Amity’s hand in hers and holds it close, giving it an affectionate squeeze.

“Goodnight, Amity,” she says.

Amity presses a soft kiss to her shoulder, making Luz’s heart melt. “Goodnight, Luz.”

Before too long, they are both fast asleep.

  
  


***

  
  


When Amity wakes up the next morning, it takes her a minute to remember where she is. 

The first thing she notices is the hard surface she’s lying on. It’s clearly not her bed.

_Why am I sleeping on the floor?_

When she opens her eyes, it becomes instantly apparent that she's not in her room at Blight Manor.

_Oh, that’s right. I’m at the Owl House._

Memories from the previous night come flooding back, making Amity blush slightly.

_Did we really…_

She raises a hand to her lips, and is almost surprised to discover that they don’t feel any different. _She_ definitely feels different.

Amity smiles to herself, remembering the kiss. Or, rather, _kisses_ \- there had in fact been two of them. She replays the scene in her head, wanting to commit every detail to memory. 

The feeling of Luz’s lips, soft and warm against her own. Her arm around Luz and Luz’s hand in her hair during the second, longer kiss. The exploding sensation in her chest - as if there were a thousand firework spells going off inside of her, all at once.

She’s never felt anything quite like it before.

She definitely wants to feel it again soon.

Turning her head, Amity looks at Luz, who is still asleep next to her. She’s rolled over so that she’s facing Amity, and she looks so sweet and peaceful that Amity’s heart can’t take it.

_What did I ever do to deserve you?_ Amity thinks, unable to stop marveling at her good fortune. Luz is so brave, and kind, and authentic. She’s silly and selfless and creative and beautiful, and for some reason, she likes _Amity._

Enough to kiss her. Twice.

As if she can feel Amity’s gaze, Luz begins to stir. Slowly, she opens her eyes, smiling when she sees Amity.

“Hey,” she says.

Amity smiles back. “Hey.”

“What time is it?”

Amity moves to check her scroll, inhaling sharply when she sees the time. “It’s after nine. I probably need to get going soon,” she says regretfully. “I’m not sure how long Ed and Em can keep fooling our parents with their illusion clone of me.”

Luz lets out a surprised laugh. “I was wondering what you’d told them.”

“Nothing, as it turns out,” Amity admits with a smile. “The twins offered to cover for me.”

“That was nice of them.”

“Yeah.” Amity pauses. “I think… they approve of us.”

“Really?” Luz grins at her. “That’s awesome!”

“It doesn’t stop them from teasing me, though,” Amity says ruefully. “So… I guess we should probably get up, then.”

“Guess so,” Luz agrees, sounding regretful. “Can you stay for breakfast, do you think?”

Amity really wants to. And there’s probably no harm in it, she reasons, since the plan is clearly working. Surely, her siblings can keep it up for another hour or so.

“Yeah,” she says. “I think I can.”

  
  


***

  
  


After breakfast, which Luz makes for them (something called “pancakes”, which, though strange, turn out to be delicious), it’s finally time to say goodbye. Emira’s been in touch to ask Amity when she’ll be back, and Amity knows she can’t put it off any longer.

Luz insists on walking her at least part of the way home, and Amity is more than happy to let her. She wants to prolong their time together as much as she possibly can.

They walk through the woods hand in hand, in companionable silence for the most part, just enjoying each other’s company. It’s a beautiful day.

The walk is over much too soon. When they get to within striking distance of the manor, Amity stops.

“I should probably go on alone from here,” she says regretfully.

“Okay,” Luz says. “Hug?” she asks, opening her arms wide.

Amity steps into them. She wraps her arms around Luz, resting her chin on Luz’s shoulder. Luz’s arms go around her as well, and she holds Amity close.

“Thanks for coming,” Luz says quietly, right next to Amity’s ear. “I had a really great time.”

“Me, too,” Amity agrees, hugging Luz even more tightly. She doesn’t want to leave.

Luz pulls back a little, just enough so that she can look into Amity’s eyes. “I’d really like to kiss you again,” she says. “Can I?”

“Yes, please,” Amity replies, and Luz pulls her close once more.

There’s that feeling again. Amity’s last thought before she stops thinking entirely is that somehow, kissing Luz is even _better_ than she’d imagined it would be.

That kiss is enough to sustain her through the rest of the weekend. When she arrives home in a happy daze, wandering up to her room with a dreamy smile on her face, Edric and Emira exchange knowing looks.

Amity doesn’t notice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray, they finally communicated! Good for them.
> 
> This was such a fun chapter to write. Hopefully it was just as fun to read!
> 
> I'll be back again with a new chapter on either the 29th or 30th of September. Most likely the 30th, as I'm probably going to combine the next two prompts that I'm planning on doing into one chapter.
> 
> I think this story will likely end up having about 11 chapters in total, but we'll see.
> 
> Please consider leaving a comment if you enjoyed - they really make my day :)


	9. First Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz doesn't like hiding their relationship, but Amity is terrified at the prospect of telling her parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the new chapter, a day ahead of schedule! I finished it early, so I decided to go ahead and post it today, especially since today's prompt (First Fight) is definitely the focus of this chapter. But it covers tomorrow's prompt (Cuddles) as well :)

A week after their sleepover, Amity and Luz are hanging out in the secret library room.

It’s their usual after-school spot. Since Amity’s always spent a lot of her free time at the library, her parents don’t question her when she says she’s studying there. And once they’re safely hidden in the secret room, they can drop the act they’re forced to adopt during the school day and actually be with each other as girlfriends.

It’s never for very long, since Amity always has to be home for dinner. But Luz will take whatever time with her girlfriend she can get.

They’ve collapsed onto a pile of cushions in the corner, so close together that Luz’s entire right side is pressed into Amity. Ever since the sleepover, Amity has been a lot more comfortable with this sort of contact. Now, when the two of them are alone she always sits nice and close, leaning into Luz’s side. She initiates about as many hugs as Luz does. Kisses, too. Not that there have been too many of those yet.

It’s as if something clicked for Amity, during that late night conversation, and now the floodgates have opened.

And Luz absolutely loves it. But in a strange way, it’s making it that much harder to hide their relationship the rest of the time. Now that she and Amity have kissed, now that they’re more comfortable expressing their affection for each other, having to pretend that they don’t like each other that way for the better portion of each day is really starting to get Luz down. And she worries that one of these days, she’s going to slip up. 

It’s already almost happened a couple of times this week. The first time was when she very nearly referred to Amity as her girlfriend where other students could hear. Then a day later, she’d reached for Amity’s hand on the way to Abominations class, before remembering she couldn’t do that.

At some point, something like this will happen and she won’t manage to stop herself in time. And then the secret will be out.

Luz can’t help wondering if it wouldn’t be better to just get it over with. She knows Amity really doesn’t want to tell her parents, but does she plan on keeping it a secret from them forever?

It’s hard enough now, and they’ve only been dating for about a month. Luz can only imagine how much harder it will get as their relationship progresses and their feelings for each other continue to grow.

She wants to be able to go on dates with Amity in town, and go to school events with her, and refer to Amity as her girlfriend in public. She’s so happy and proud to be dating Amity, and it makes her sad to have to hide how she feels about her.

Luz does, on some level, understand the need for secrecy. She’s aware that she doesn’t know everything about Amity’s home life, but she’s seen how her parents forced their young daughter to end a friendship because the friend in question wasn’t “strong enough”. And she knows Amity is afraid they won’t approve of Luz because she’s a human.

A human who also happens to have had a very public confrontation with the Emperor. Which Amity’s parents almost certainly know about.

So yes, there are good reasons why Amity wants to keep their relationship a secret. But Luz doesn’t think it’s a secret they’re going to be able to keep indefinitely, and it’s a secret she doesn’t _want_ to keep indefinitely.

She thinks they should at least talk about it.

“Amity?” Luz asks, setting aside the book she’s been pretending to read.

Amity looks up from the homework she’s been getting a head start on. “Yeah, Luz?”

Luz takes a deep breath. She’s not sure how this conversation is going to go, but she thinks it’s one they need to have. “I was just wondering,” she begins, “How much longer do you think we need to keep our relationship a secret? Have you thought about when you might be ready to tell your parents?”

The change in Amity is immediate. Her eyes widen, and her face drains of color. Luz can practically feel the tension radiating from her.

A ball of dread forms in the pit of her stomach. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

  
  


***

  
  


“Have you thought about when you might be ready to tell your parents?”

The question hits Amity like a bucket of ice-cold water to the face. Just moments ago she’d been relaxed and happy, but now she can feel every muscle in her body tense, fight or flight response activating as she struggles to contain her rising panic.

“T-tell them?” she asks, her voice shaking. “What do you mean, tell them?”

Luz frowns a little, clearly concerned by Amity’s reaction. “I just thought… at some point we’ll need to tell them about us. Won’t we?”

“We can’t!” Amity says, more harshly than she’d intended. Unconsciously, she pushes herself away from Luz so that she’s no longer pressed up against the other girl, unable to handle such close contact when she’s feeling like this. All she can think about is what her parents will do to her if they find out about her and Luz.

_They’ll take her away from me…_

She doesn’t know exactly how they’ll do it, but they’ll find a way. They’ll order Amity to break up with Luz, and they’ll threaten Luz in some way to ensure her obedience. Just like they did with Willow. 

She’ll be powerless to stop them. She won’t even be able to keep Luz as a friend - she’ll have to stay as far away from her as possible in order to avoid any suspicion that they’re still dating.

Amity’s seen the way her mother reacted to Luz, on the day she’d been sick and Luz had come to visit her. She knows her parents will never approve of their relationship. The only way to keep them from coming between her and Luz is to make sure they never find out.

“Okay,” Luz says, raising her hands in a placating gesture. “You don’t want to tell them yet. I get it-”

“No, you don’t!” Amity interrupts. “You don’t understand - we can NEVER tell them!”

Luz looks shocked. “Never? You mean we have to hide our relationship forever?”

“It’s the only way!” 

Amity isn’t explaining herself well, but she can’t seem to calm down enough to get her thoughts in order. The scene keeps playing out in her mind’s eye - her parents staring down at her, their cold anger sucking all the air out of the room as they order her to cut all ties with the human, or _else._

She can picture it so vividly. The walls of the library room fade around her, and she feels herself wilting under her parents’ disapproving stares.

“Why is it the only way?” Luz asks, jolting her back to the present. Amity can hear the tension starting to creep into her voice as well. “I don’t _like_ hiding our relationship, Amity.”

“You think I do?” Amity exclaims, leaping to her feet in agitation. Her voice comes out loud and harsh, but she can’t seem to control it. “I don’t like it! I hate it!”

“Then why do we have to do it?”

“Because if we don’t, they’ll make me break up with you!”

“How can they _make_ you break up with me?”

“They’ll threaten you. Like they threatened Willow.”

Luz crosses her arms over her chest. “I’m not afraid of them. Whatever they threaten me with, I can handle. And they’re going to find out eventually - isn’t it better that they hear it from you?”

It’s too much. Luz obviously isn’t getting it, and she’s too stupidly brave for her own good, and Amity loves that about her but right now it terrifies her because _Luz is not taking this seriously._

And suddenly, Amity is angry. 

She’s angry at her parents for being manipulative and controlling. She’s angry at herself for being weak. She’s _furious_ at the thought of losing the best thing that has ever happened to her.

“You should be afraid of them!” she shouts. “Don’t you get it? If I don’t agree to end our relationship, they’ll come after you. They will hurt you, Luz!”

“I can defend myself! I fought the Emperor, Amity!”

“This is different! And I can’t risk it!”

Luz is on her feet now too, and she looks as frustrated as Amity feels. “Don’t I get a say in this at all?!”

“NO! This is for your own good, Luz!”

“Amity, you don’t just get to decide this for me! That’s not how relationships work!”

Amity practically growls in frustration. She _knows_ what her parents are like - why isn’t Luz _listening_ to her?! Doesn’t she have _any_ concern for her own safety?!

Fear and anger reaching a breaking point, Amity lashes out like a cornered animal.

“IF IT BOTHERS YOU SO MUCH, WHY DON’T YOU JUST BREAK UP WITH ME?!” 

The words come flying out of her before she can stop them, and are met with stunned silence. 

Amity claps a hand over her mouth, wishing more than anything that she could take them back. But it’s too late. The damage is done.

Luz’s eyes widen in shocked disbelief. Then, Amity watches helplessly as her face crumples.

All of Amity’s anger and frustration vanishes the moment she sees the tears welling up in her girlfriend’s eyes, leaving her full of remorse and very, very afraid.

“Oh, no, Luz, I’m so sorry!” Amity exclaims. She starts to reach towards the other girl, then stops herself, hands hovering in the air uncertainly. She’s shaking all over. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean it! Please don’t cry. Oh Luz, please don’t cry.”

Luz sniffles quietly. Her arms are wrapped protectively around her middle, and she doesn’t meet Amity’s gaze. She looks like she's just been punched in the stomach.

Amity has never hated herself more than at that moment.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” she continues frantically, voice laced with panic. “I didn’t mean it, I swear I didn’t mean it! Luz, please look at me!”

She’s dangerously close to tears herself. Amity can’t believe she’s gone and ruined the one truly good thing in her life.

_I’m so sorry, Luz. Please forgive me. Please, please don’t leave me._

Luz takes a deep, shaky breath, wiping the tears from her face with the sleeve of her uniform. Then she looks up at Amity.

“It’s okay,” she says weakly, voice thick from crying.

“It’s not okay!” Amity says, fighting to hold back tears. “I made you cry! I ruined everything.”

“You didn’t ruin everything. We had a fight, that’s all.”

“Luz, I _yelled_ at you. I told you to break up with me! I’m a horrible girlfriend.”

Amity cannot believe how badly she’s managed to mess this up. She feels like a complete failure.

And failure in a Blight is not tolerated. She’s had that drilled into her from a young age.

“What you said hurt,” Luz admits. “But… you didn’t mean it. Right?”

She sounds sad and uncertain, and it breaks Amity’s heart. 

“No, I didn’t mean it.” She’s crying now, tears running down her cheeks faster than she can wipe them away. “I’m so sorry, Luz. Ple-Please don’t leave me,” she sobs.

Luz’s bottom lip quivers when she hears Amity say that, and there are tears in her eyes again as well. “Amity, come here,” she says, opening her arms.

Amity surges forward into her embrace, wrapping her arms around Luz and clinging to her as though she were a lifeline, head buried in her girlfriend’s neck. Luz is clutching her just as tightly.

“I’m not leaving you,” Luz says firmly, through her tears. “I’m not going anywhere, I promise. Are you?” she asks, sounding less certain.

“No! Never!” Amity says fiercely, holding Luz even more tightly. “You’re stuck with me,” she adds, with a weak laugh.

“Good,” Luz replies, sounding relieved. “You scared me.”

“I am _so_ sorry,” Amity says again. “I definitely don’t want you to break up with me. Please, _please_ don’t do that.”

“I won’t.”

“Good.” Amity takes a deep, shaky breath, feeling lightheaded with relief.

She’s still furious with herself for making Luz cry. But somehow, Luz has forgiven her. She hasn’t left. She’s still _here._

Amity’s always been punished harshly for her mistakes, but Luz isn’t doing that. She’s giving Amity the chance to do better next time.

They stay like that for a little while longer, finding comfort in the closeness. Then, once they’ve both stopped crying and are feeling calmer, they slowly start to loosen their grip on each other.

“Want to sit down?” Luz asks.

Amity nods, and they make their way back to the cushions. Luz sits down, and Amity sits next to her, so close she’s practically in Luz’s lap.

The physical contact helps her to stay grounded - to remember that Luz is still here, Luz still wants to be with her. Amity hopes she isn’t being too clingy.

Luz doesn’t seem to mind. She shifts her position and puts her arm around Amity, drawing her close. It’s a clear invitation, and one that Amity is more than happy to accept. She swings her legs over Luz’s, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend’s shoulders.

“I think we should probably talk about it,” Luz says, once they’re settled.

It’s clear what she’s referring to, and Amity feels her face redden with shame. “I’m really sorry, Luz,” she says again. “This was all my fault. I never should have yelled at you, or said… what I said. I got scared. It won’t happen again,” she promises.

“I accept your apology,” Luz says, “And I’m sorry too. It wasn’t all your fault. I could tell I was making you uncomfortable, but I kept pushing. I’m sorry, Amity.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for,” Amity says firmly. “You asked a perfectly reasonable question. It just… really freaked me out.” 

“I’d... actually like to talk about that a bit more, if it’s okay with you,” Luz says, a little hesitantly. “Why did it freak you out so much?”

Amity sighs. It’s not an easy thing for her to talk about, but she knows she owes Luz an explanation. 

She takes a deep breath, then begins.

“It freaked me out because... I’m afraid to tell my parents about us. Really afraid. Because I’m scared they’ll be angry, and then they’ll forbid me from seeing you and force me to end things with you. And I’ll have to do what they say, because they’ll threaten you with something terrible.” 

Amity takes another steadying breath, then continues. “My parents are powerful witches, Luz. They have influence, and… connections. There’s a lot they could do to hurt you, and I don’t know that we would be able to stop them. I wouldn’t be able to risk it... so I’d have to do what they said.”

Luz looks at her, wide-eyed. “Do you really think they’d go that far? They’re your _parents,_ Amity. Is it really that bad?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Amity admits, “But you saw what happened with Willow. And she’s a witch, and someone I was just friends with. Their reaction to this could be much, much worse.”

Amity sighs, looking around the little room which has long been her secret sanctuary, the place she goes to escape from the pressures and expectations of being a Blight. “In any case, I’m afraid to find out,” she says.

“I know you are, but don’t you think that eventually, the secret is going to get out?” Luz asks. Her voice is gentle. “We’ve been lucky so far, but at some point, one of us is bound to slip up. And don’t you think they’ll be even angrier if they find out you’ve been lying to them?” 

She traces comforting circles on Amity’s back while she speaks, obviously worried about upsetting her. 

“That’s a good point,” Amity concedes. “I hadn’t thought about it quite like that before. But… I don’t think I’m ready yet,” she admits.

“That’s okay,” Luz says reassuringly.

“I need time to think,” she continues, “To come up with a plan. Both for how to tell them, and for what to do if they... don’t take it well.”

“I get that,” Luz replies. “And hey, I can help you, you know. We can figure it out together.”

Amity smiles. Luz is right - she doesn’t have to handle this by herself. They’re a team now.

“Okay,” she says. “We’ll figure it out together.”

“Great! It’s settled then,” Luz declares, returning her smile. “So... I guess we just survived our first fight, huh?”

“I guess so,” Amity says. She looks down at her wonderful, forgiving girlfriend, who is still here even though Amity messed up. “Let’s not do that again anytime soon, okay?”

“Agreed,” says Luz. She smiles up at Amity. “How would you feel about a kiss?” she asks, sounding hopeful. 

Amity doesn’t hesitate. She takes Luz’s face in her hands and kisses her - gently at first, then more firmly as they both deepen the kiss, each of them seeking reassurance from the other that their feelings haven’t changed, that they’re not going anywhere.

They stay in the library room for most of the evening, both reluctant to leave. Amity misses dinner, but she can’t be bothered to care. She’ll think of some excuse.

They work on their homework, and talk, and read together from one of the many books Amity has stashed away in here. When Luz starts to get tired, she rests her head on Amity’s lap, and Amity strokes her hair.

Amity tries to channel everything she feels for Luz into that touch, hoping her fingertips can convey what she can’t always express with words.

_I care for you so much, Luz. You mean the world to me, and I hope you know that. I couldn’t imagine my life without you._

Amity’s feelings for Luz are unlike anything she’s ever experienced before. Those feelings have always been strong, and they’ve only grown stronger over the past month of dating. Amity knows that if Luz were to leave her now, it would absolutely break her heart.

In falling for Luz, she's opened herself up to the possibility of great pain. She's made herself vulnerable. 

It should be a terrifying thought, and it is, in a way. But Amity doesn't feel afraid. 

She trusts Luz. More than she's ever trusted anyone. She knows that her heart is in safe hands.

_Is this what love feels like? I think it must be._

Amity looks down at her amazing, beautiful girlfriend.

_I think… I think I love you, Luz._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a hard chapter for me to write, but it had to be done. I really wanted to do this prompt because fights happen in relationships, and since this fic has pretty much turned into an exploration of what it's like to be in your first romantic relationship, I thought it was an important thing to cover. They'll certainly learn and grow from the experience. Amity in particular learns quite a lot from this, I think. And I definitely enjoyed writing her little realization at the end there :)
> 
> The final two prompts I'll be doing are the prompts for the 7th of October and for the 10th of October. So I'll be posting a new chapter on each of those days, and then this fic will be complete :)


	10. Diary Entries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amity and Luz reflect on their growing feelings for each other.

**Amity**

_Dear Diary,_

_Luz and I had a fight today. Our first fight._

_Well, our first fight since becoming a couple, anyway._

_She asked me when I thought I’d be ready to tell people about our relationship, and I… freaked out. I yelled at her. I said something cruel, something I didn’t mean. I made her cry._

_I was so terrified of losing her that I nearly pushed her away myself._

_I thought I_ _had_ _lost her, at first. I was sure I’d ruined everything. But Luz proved yet again how different she is from everything and everyone else in my life._

_My parents’ love, if you can call it that, has always come with conditions. I must obey them, and achieve success and uphold the family name. If I don’t, I am punished. They don’t care about what I want. They don’t care about_ _me_ _\- not really._

_Ed and Em do, I think, but they’ve spent so long being the teasing older siblings that I’m still getting used to being able to rely on them. Willow and I are becoming friends again, which is great, but I still have a ways to go to make up for the way I treated her. She and Gus are definitely more Luz’s friends than mine, at least for now._

_So I’ve never really felt like I had anyone who cared about me unconditionally - who would still be there for me, even if I made mistakes. Maybe Willow, when we were younger, but I ruined that because I wasn’t strong enough to stand up to my parents._

_I’m still not strong enough to stand up to my parents._

_I’m getting off track. The point is: when I saw how I’d hurt Luz, I was sure that I’d ruined everything. Even though I should have known better, because I_ _know_ _Luz, I was convinced she was going to leave me. I made a mistake. I hurt her. She would have had every right to end our relationship over it._

_But she didn’t, of course, because she’s_ _Luz_ _. She forgave me. She knew I didn’t mean to hurt her. She still cares about me, even though I messed up._

_She’s the most incredible person I’ve ever met. She cares_ _so much_ _\- about her mother, about Eda and King, about her friends, about learning magic. For some reason, she cares about me. Even if I’m not perfect._

_I still don’t understand what she sees in me. She’s passionate and brave and kind and selfless, and I’m… a mess. I was horrible to her when I first met her. I was horrible to a lot of people, back then._

_She forgave me for that too. She made me want to do better, to be better._

_She’s the best thing that ever happened to me. She came here and she turned my life upside down and I never want to go back to the way it was before. I can’t believe I hated her when we first met. Now, I can’t imagine my life without her in it._

_I think I love her._

_Is that crazy? I feel like adults would say it is. They’d say I’m too young to know what love feels like._

_But why should age have anything to do with it? Sure, I may not have much experience with love. But that doesn’t mean I can’t recognize it._

_What I feel for Luz… it’s almost too big to contain. When I’m with her I feel like I’m overflowing. And not in a bad way._

_Having a crush on Luz was agonizing. This… isn’t._

_I feel so much for her it makes my chest hurt, but it’s a good ache. I feel full. Content._

_It’s like the difference between a fast flowing river and a deep, still lake. Before, I was always afraid of getting swept away. Now, even though the water is deep, I know I won’t drown._

_I trust her. She makes me feel safe._

_I love her._

_Should I tell her? Maybe it’s too soon. I don’t want to freak her out._

_I’ll think about it._

  
  


_***_

  
  


_Dear Diary,_

_Luz wasn’t in school today. I was worried, so I went to visit her at the Owl House._

_When I got there, she didn’t seem sick, but it was clear she had been crying. She told me that today was the day she was supposed to go home, back to the human realm._

_I knew that day was coming up, but I hadn’t realized it was so soon._

_I should have known. In my excitement at finally getting to be with Luz, I’ve been ignoring the fact that she’s not actually supposed to be here forever._

_I think the date crept up on Luz as well. She said she’s had so much going on lately that she hasn’t really thought about the broken portal, and then it just hit her like a ton of bricks today. I’ve never seen her so distraught._

_I feel terrible for distracting her. We should have spent this past month trying to find her another way home, and instead we’ve been… going on dates, and having sleepovers, and finding ways to be alone so that we can kiss._

_If I was the one stranded in a foreign realm, Luz wouldn’t rest until she’d found me a way to get back home. Why can’t I be more like Luz?_

_I couldn’t fix it for her. All I could do was hold her while she cried, and listen when she was ready to talk._

_She told me about her mom, a little. It’s clear they really love each other, even if they don’t always understand each other. I’m glad she has a parent who cares for her so deeply._

_I think that’s what’s upsetting her the most - the fact that she knows her mom will be worried sick about her when she doesn’t come home, and she can’t do anything to let her know she’s okay. Luz told me that she used to be able to text her mother, but ever since the portal was destroyed the messages haven’t been getting through._

_She also told me that she doesn’t actually want to leave the Boiling Isles - not permanently, anyway. She said this is her home now, and the only thing she really misses about the human world is her mom. She wants to find a way back so she can see her mother again, and tell her she’s okay, but she doesn’t want to give up her life here. She wants to keep living at the Owl House, and studying at Hexside. She wants to stay with her friends. She wants to stay with me._

_Selfishly, it made me very happy to hear that. I don’t want her to leave, either. If she did, I think it would destroy me._

_I wouldn’t try to stop her, of course, if she wanted to go. But I can’t even imagine how much it would hurt._

_I love her so much. I need her in my life._

_The words were right there, on the tip of my tongue, the entire time I held her. But I knew it wasn’t the right time to say them._

_I’m going to do everything I can to help her find a way home. I don’t want her to be forced to stay on the Boiling Isles. I want her to be able to make that choice for herself._

_Also, I’d really like to meet her mom._

  
  


_***_

  
  


**Luz**

_Dear Diary,_

_I’m not gonna lie, this feels kind of weird. But Amity gave me this diary. She said that when she’s struggling with something, it helps her to write about it. So I’m going to give it a try._

_Yesterday was the day I was supposed to go back to the human realm. It’s the day my mom was expecting me home from summer camp. But I couldn’t go back, because I had to destroy the portal to save Eda._

_Eda is my mentor here on the Boiling Isles, and, well… she’s kind of like my second mom. So of course I did whatever it took to save her from the Emperor. But now I’ve lost my only way home._

_I’m going to do everything I can to find another way. Not because I want to leave - I don’t - but because I miss my mom, and I need to let her know I’m okay._

_She’s probably worried sick about me. I can’t imagine what she’s going through right now, and I feel terrible about it._

_So I absolutely need to find a way to get back to the human realm. But… I don’t want to stay there. Not permanently. The Boiling Isles is my home now._

_To tell you the truth, I never really felt at home in my world. I didn’t have any friends, and everyone thought I was weird. I spent all my time escaping into fantasy worlds._

_Then I came here, and I found people who understood me. I met Eda and King, and Willow and Gus. I met Amity._

_Back in the human world, I never really thought about romance much. Not for me, anyway - I thought about romances between fictional characters all the time! But I was the weird kid. No one liked me like that._

_I’ve known I was bi since I was thirteen, but my crushes all tended to be on fictional characters. I never really had more than a fleeting interest in anyone I knew in real life._

_When I came here, I thought things might be different. I found friends here, so maybe I could find romance too. But I never expected it to be Amity. I never thought that someone as smart and talented and beautiful as her would ever be interested in me._

_I think I liked Amity long before I actually realized that I did. I’ve always been drawn to her, even when she hated me. She made it clear she wanted nothing to do with me, but I still kept trying to be her friend. Then, when we finally did become friends, I was so excited._

_I think I’ve always liked her, but I hid the truth from myself because I didn’t want to get hurt. Until eventually, my feelings became too obvious to ignore._

_I’m so glad I finally figured things out. Because now we’re together, and this past month has been the happiest of my life. Even though I miss my mom._

_I’ve learned so much - about Amity, about myself, about relationships. I’ve learned that happily ever after isn’t the end of the story - it’s the beginning. And it’s not always perfect, and sometimes it’s hard. But that’s okay. What matters most is that_ _we really care about each other, and together we can overcome whatever challenges we face._

_I think I’m falling in love with Amity. Am I too young to fall in love? I don’t know._

_I just know that when we were fighting and she told me to break up with her, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The idea of not being with her anymore… it hurts to think about._

_And yesterday, when she held me and comforted me and listened to me talk about my mom, I just… felt something too big to explain. The only word I can think of to describe it is love._

_So there you have it. I’m in love._

_I wish I could tell my mom._

_I wish she could meet Amity._

  
  


_***_

  
  


_Dear Diary,_

_I had a talk with Eda about the portal yesterday, and she agreed it’s time to start looking for a way to make a new one. It will be a lot harder now that she’s lost her magic, but we’re going to try our best. Maybe we can find a way to do it with glyph magic._

_Amity and I headed to the library after school today to start researching. We checked out as many books on ancient magic as we could find. We couldn’t find any specifically on portals, but Eda did say it was unlikely that we would. She told us that kind of knowledge is closely guarded._

_What we have is a start, anyway. Hopefully we can combine what we learn about ancient magic with Eda’s knowledge about how the first portal was created, and find a way to make it work._

_Amity has been really amazing about all of this. From the moment the portal was destroyed she promised to help me, and she’s definitely been keeping that promise. Even though I know she doesn’t want me to leave._

_Every time I see her, I’m more and more sure that I love her._

_I wonder if she feels the same?_

  
  


_***_

  
  


_Dear Diary,_

_Today at school Willow let slip that it’s Amity’s birthday next weekend. When I asked Amity why she hadn’t said anything, she just shrugged and said birthdays aren’t really a big deal in her family._

_God, her parents SUCK. Just when I think they couldn’t get any worse, I find out that they barely celebrate their own daughter’s birthday?!_

_It’s a good thing Amity has me now, because I’m going to plan the best birthday party in the history of birthday parties. I’m going to make sure she knows just how special she is to me._

_I have a plan. A plan for how to tell her that I love her._

_I have so much work to do! I can’t wait!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoy writing introspection, so this was a fun prompt for me :)
> 
> I know this was a pretty short chapter, but I can promise that the final chapter will be the longest yet. I'm looking forward to Saturday when I can finally post it! 
> 
> Comments give me life :)


	11. Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz throws Amity a surprise party for her birthday.

Two days before Amity’s birthday, Luz almost sleeps through her alarm.

She’s spent the past week and a half frantically preparing - planning and gathering supplies to throw Amity the best surprise party of all time. Every spare moment has been spent either planning the party, or working on the gift she’s making for Amity. 

Each day, Luz has gone straight home after school and gotten to work. She puts in a couple of hours before dinner, then heads right back up to her room as soon as she’s finished eating and keeps working, often until well past midnight. It’s the only way to get everything done in time, but the lack of sleep is definitely starting to catch up with her. 

_ Only two more days,  _ she tells herself, groaning as she rolls over and switches the alarm off. 

Her demanding schedule has also kept her from spending time with Amity in the afternoons like she normally would. Luz has had to come up with a few excuses for why she can’t hang out, and she hates having to lie to Amity. Plus, she misses her girlfriend, and feels bad about not being able to spend time with her. 

It will all be worth it in the end, though, because Luz is determined to make this the best birthday Amity’s ever had. 

She knows that Amity has spent a lot of birthdays feeling alone. Her parents are… not the most affectionate people, and by her own admission Amity has never considered Boscha and co to be her real friends. Her girlfriend has been lonely for a long time, and it breaks Luz’s heart to think about it.

But now Amity has Luz. And Luz is going to make sure that Amity knows just how loved she is.

_ It’s going to be perfect. I can’t wait! _

But right now she has to get up and start getting ready for school, or else she’s going to be late. It’s a struggle to drag herself out of bed, but she manages.

When Luz stumbles downstairs to grab breakfast, Eda notices the dark circles under her eyes.

“Hey, kid, you okay?” she asks, concerned. “You look tired.”

“I’m fine,” Luz says, with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I’ve just been really busy getting everything ready for Amity’s party.”

Eda frowns. “I thought you finished the party planning a couple of days ago.”

“Yeah, I did, but I’m still working on Amity’s present,” Luz explains. “It’s taking longer than I expected.”

“What are you making her?” Eda asks.

Luz freezes. “It’s… a surprise,” she manages. For some reason, she’s hesitant to tell anyone about the gift she’s making for Amity.

“Alright, keep your secrets,” Eda says. “Just don’t push yourself too hard, okay? I know Amity wouldn’t want you making yourself sick on her behalf.”

“I won’t,” Luz promises. “It’s almost done, anyway. I should be able to finish tonight.” 

“Okay,” Eda says, but she still seems concerned. She offers to let Luz stay home from school, and when Luz refuses she insists on flying her there on Owlbert. Luz has generally been walking to school so that Eda can keep a low profile, but today she’s too tired to protest.

At school, her friends are concerned as well.

“Luz, you look really tired,” Willow says when they see each other in the hallway before class. Amity hasn’t appeared yet, but she keeps her voice down anyway. “Is this party stuff getting to be too much? Because we can help you, you know.”

“Yeah,” Gus agrees. “Just let us know what you need us to do.”

“I really appreciate it, guys,” Luz says, with what she hopes is a reassuring smile. “But everything is pretty much ready. The only thing I still have to do is finish Amity’s present.”

“Ooh, what is it?” Willow asks.

Thankfully, Luz is saved from having to answer because at that moment the group spots Amity heading towards them, and all party talk immediately ceases.

“Hey guys,” Amity says when she reaches them. “What are we talking about?”

“Oh, nothing important!” Luz says innocently. “I was just telling these guys about something I learned in Potions class yesterday. Right, guys?”

Willow and Gus nod obediently.

“Well, we’d better get to class,” Willow says. “The bell’s going to go any minute.” She and Gus depart to head to their respective classrooms, giving Luz and Amity a few moments alone together - for which Luz silently thanks them.

“Hey,” she says, smiling at her girlfriend.

“Hey,” Amity smiles back. Then she frowns. “You look tired, Luz. Have you been getting enough sleep?”

“I’m fine,” Luz hurries to reassure her. “I’ve been staying up later than usual studying, that’s all. I’ll catch up on sleep this weekend,” she promises.

“Okay,” Amity says, but she still looks worried.

“Hey, speaking of this weekend,” Luz says brightly. “I wanted to talk to you about your birthday. Do you know if your parents have anything planned for Saturday?”

She already knows the answer, of course - Edric and Emira have confirmed that Amity is free. But she’s playing dumb to avoid suspicion.

“They don’t,” Amity replies, rolling her eyes. “They’re not even going to be home. They left on a work trip this morning, and they won’t be back until Monday night.”

Luz’s eyes widen. “It’s your birthday and they’re not even going to be home?” she asks, aghast. The twins hadn’t mentioned that part.

Amity’s parents really are the worst. Luz doesn’t understand how two people as terrible as them managed to have such an amazing daughter.

Amity just shrugs. “This isn’t the first time it’s happened,” she says, like she doesn’t care. But Luz knows she does.

“In that case, why don’t you come over to the Owl House?” Luz offers, trying to make it sound like she just came up with the idea on the spot. “We can hang out, and I’ll make you a birthday cake!”

“Oh, um, okay,” Amity says, with the shy little smile that Luz has come to recognize as the one she wears anytime Luz does something that makes her happy. Luz has made it her goal to collect as many of those smiles as possible. “What time should I come over?”

“In the afternoon, around three?” Luz suggests. She’s calculated that a start time of 3pm should allow her enough hours beforehand to make the cake and get everything set up.

“I’ll be there,” Amity promises, and there’s that smile again. Seeing it warms Luz from the inside out.

The bell rings, startling them both.

“I guess we’d better get to class,” Luz says reluctantly.

“Wait, before you go,” Amity says, “Are you free this afternoon? Like I said, my parents are out of town, so it’s only the twins and me at home. Maybe you could come over?”

She looks so eager, and Luz’s heart sinks. She would love to, of course, but she’ll never finish Amity’s present unless she gets straight to work on it after school. “I’m sorry, Amity,” she says regretfully, guilt twisting her stomach at the way Amity’s face falls. “I really want to, but I promised Eda I would make deliveries for her after school today.” 

“Again?” Amity asks, clearly disappointed but doing her best to hide it. This isn’t the first time Luz has used that excuse - in fact she’s already used it a couple of times this week.

_ I hope I haven’t made her worry that Eda is working me too hard. _

“Yeah. Sorry,” she says, hating herself for disappointing Amity. “I promise I’ll make it up to you this weekend, though.”

“It’s fine,” Amity says. But her smile wavers, and Luz can see the hurt in her eyes.

_ Wait, does she know I’m lying? Does she think I’m avoiding her?! _

Luz knows she has to fix this. “Amity…” she begins, trying to think of some way to convince her girlfriend that she isn’t lying - that Eda really does just need a lot of deliveries made this week. But Amity cuts her off.

“I’d better get to class. I don’t want to be late.”

And then she heads off down the hall, without waiting for Luz.

Luz sighs sadly.  _ It will all be worth it in the end,  _ she reminds herself, dejectedly making her way to her first class of the day.

  
  


***

  
  


“I’m home,” Luz announces as she enters the Owl House at the end of the school day, though the declaration lacks its usual enthusiasm. Dropping her bag on the floor, she trudges over to the couch and flops onto it, faceplanting into the cushions.

Eda wanders in from the kitchen. “Long day?” she asks.

“The longest,” Luz groans. It’s been a rough day. She nearly dozed off in two of her classes, and got called out by her teachers both times for not paying attention. Plus, Amity’s been withdrawn and sad ever since their conversation this morning. Luz has tried her hardest to reassure Amity that she misses her and is just really busy this week, but it’s pretty obvious that her girlfriend thinks she’s avoiding her. And knowing Amity, she probably assumes it’s her fault - that she’s done something to push Luz away.

Luz hates seeing Amity upset, and it’s even worse when she’s the cause of it. She knows that all will soon be revealed, and hopefully the surprise she has planned for Amity will more than make up for her lack of availability this week, but it’s still taking an emotional toll on her.

“Okay, kid,” Eda says, interrupting Luz’s reflections on her crappy day. “You’re clearly exhausted. I want you to go upstairs and take a nap. I’ll wake you up when dinner’s ready.”

Luz looks up at her mentor-turned-guardian. “But I still have so much work to do,” she protests weakly.

“You can work after dinner,” Eda says sternly. “You’ll be more productive if you get some rest first. Now go!”

Luz is too exhausted to argue. She drags herself upstairs and collapses onto her bedroll without even taking her shoes off, and she’s asleep within minutes.

Eda is true to her word. She wakes Luz up two hours later. Feeling groggy but somewhat refreshed, Luz heads down to dinner.

She’s still feeling bad about Amity though, and she can only pick at her food.

Eda notices, and when dinner is over she takes Luz aside. “Okay, kid,” she says, guiding Luz over to the couch and taking a seat next to her, “What’s wrong? You’ve barely eaten anything, and I know my cooking isn’t always the best but I didn’t think tonight’s meal was  _ that  _ bad.”

“It wasn’t,” Luz says, looking down at her hands. “I’m just... not very hungry.”

Eda narrows her eyes. “Luz, you are  _ always  _ hungry.”

Luz sighs. She supposes she might as well tell Eda the real reason.

“It’s just… I think I upset Amity today,” she explains. “I’ve been so busy with party stuff that I haven’t had time to hang out with her this week, and I can’t tell her the real reason why so I keep making up lame excuses, and now I’m pretty sure she thinks I’m avoiding her.”

“Ah,” Eda says. “I see.” She pauses, seeming to consider her words. Luz rests her chin in her hands while she waits for Eda to speak, staring at the floor dejectedly.

“Y’know Luz,” Eda continues, “Do you think… maybe you might be going a little overboard with all this? I know you want to do something special for Amity’s birthday, but you’re pushing yourself so hard that you’re wearing yourself out and straining your relationship with her in the process. You don’t have to throw Amity a fancy surprise party to show her you care about her. I’m sure she’d be just as thrilled to spend the day with you, without a big celebration.”

Luz sighs again. She can’t deny that Eda does have a point. 

“You’re probably right,” she concedes, looking up at her mentor. “But I just… really want to do something to show her how much she means to me, and going overboard is kind of the only way I know how.”

As she’s speaking, Luz is struck by the realization that she desperately wants to talk to someone about how she’s been feeling. And, well, Eda  _ is  _ like a mother to her.

“I think I love her, Eda,” she admits. “Is that crazy?”

Eda’s expression softens. “Why would that be crazy?” she asks.

“I don’t know,” Luz says, “Because I’m so young?”

“There’s no rule that you have to be a certain age to love someone.”

She supposes that’s true. Still, Luz wants to be absolutely certain that she’s not mistaken. “But how do I know for sure?” she asks.

Eda considers. “Well, how does she make you feel?”

Luz takes a moment to reflect, trying to figure out how to put her feelings into words. 

“She makes me feel… like I can do anything,” she says eventually, with a soft smile. “As long as she’s with me. When I think about her I can’t stop smiling, and all I want to do is make her happy.”

When she’s finished speaking, she looks up at Eda to see her mentor wearing the same soft smile. “That sounds like love to me, kid,” Eda says, ruffling Luz’s hair gently.

Luz hugs her. “Thanks Eda. For listening.”

Eda hugs her back. “Anytime.” 

After a few moments, Luz reluctantly pulls away. “I’d better get back to work,” she says. “I still have a lot to do.”

Eda nods her agreement. “Just don’t stay up all night, okay?”

“I won’t,” Luz promises. She heads back upstairs, feeling lighter and happier than she has all day.

In her room, Luz pulls her secret project out of its hiding place, smiling as she reviews what she’s done so far.

She really hopes Amity likes it.

Picking up where she left off, she buckles down and gets to work.

  
  


***

  
  


The next morning, Luz is feeling much more rested. Amity’s present is very nearly done, and she can easily finish it tonight. She has everything she needs for tomorrow, and she’s even managed to get a decent night’s sleep. 

She’s ready to tackle the day ahead, and the first step is to make things right with Amity.

Shortly after Luz arrives at school, the twins stop by her locker. “Everything ready for tomorrow?” Emira asks her, after checking both ways for signs of Amity.

Luz nods. “We’re good to go,” she says quietly. “Just keep her occupied in the morning, okay? I don’t want her to show up before everything’s ready.”

“Will do,” Edric promises, and the two of them head off before Amity catches them talking to Luz.

Not long after they leave, Luz spots Amity at her locker. She walks over, greeting her girlfriend with a soft “hey”.

“Oh, hey Luz,” Amity says quietly. She smiles, but it’s a little forced, and Luz can see the worry in her eyes. 

Luz looks back and forth, and, seeing that the hallway is momentarily empty, steps forward to wrap Amity in a quick hug.

“I’m sorry that I’ve been so busy lately,” she says. “But I’m free this evening. And I’d love to hang out with you, if you’re available.”

As she’s speaking she can feel Amity relax, the tension leaving her body at Luz’s words. Her arms come around Luz and she returns the hug, giving Luz a quick squeeze before pulling away. “That would be nice,” she says, and this time her smile is genuine.

After school, Luz goes home with Amity to Blight Manor. They spend some much-needed time together, hanging out in Amity’s room and then later helping the twins make dinner. 

It’s nice, Luz thinks, getting to spend some time at Amity’s house, with her family. Minus the disapproving parents, of course.

When Luz gets home later that evening, she finishes Amity’s present. Now, all she has left to do in the morning is bake the cake and get the decorations set up.

Luz heads to bed with a satisfied smile. She can’t wait for tomorrow.

  
  


***

  
  


Amity wakes up the next morning to a message from her girlfriend.

_ Happy birthday to the prettiest, most amazing witch on the Boiling Isles! Can’t wait to see you later <3 _

She smiles and types out a quick reply, her own heart fluttering a little at the sight of the heart Luz has tacked onto the end of her message.

For the first time in a long time, she’s actually excited about her birthday.

She can’t wait to see Luz, of course. But that isn’t the only reason. 

Ever since the fight with Luz, Amity has been doing a lot of thinking about her parents, and her relationship with them. Unlike Ed and Em, who act out in response to the pressures their parents put on them, Amity has always tried her hardest to live up to their expectations. She’s never openly defied them, even when it meant losing her only friend, or dyeing her hair a color she didn’t choose.

But things are different now. Amity isn’t that person anymore. And she knows that if she wants her relationship with Luz to last, she needs to learn to stand up to her mother and father. Even if it terrifies her.

She’s not ready to come clean to them about her and Luz just yet. But there’s one thing that she is ready to do. Something smaller, but still significant.

She’s fifteen now. It’s time to take back some control over her own life.

Amity knows exactly what she wants to do for her birthday. She just needs her siblings’ help to do it.

She hops out of bed and gets ready quickly, then heads downstairs to look for the twins.

They’re in the kitchen. “Happy birthday!” they exclaim in unison as she walks in.

“Want to go out for breakfast?” Emira asks. “Our treat.”

“Thank you, that sounds nice,” Amity says. “But... there’s something I wanted to talk to you about first,” she adds, suddenly feeling a little nervous.

_ I hope this is the right thing to do. _

Edric and Emira exchange looks. “Okay,” Emira says. “What is it?”

Amity fidgets with her hair.  _ Here goes nothing,  _ she thinks.

“Well…” she begins. “I was actually hoping that maybe you could help me… dye my hair.”

“Sure,” Emira says, “No problem. Did you want help touching up your roots, or-”

Amity shakes her head. “I want to dye it brown,” she says. “Like it is naturally.”

Both twins look a little confused. “Of course,” Emira says, “But I thought you liked it green?” 

Amity sighs. They’re not going to like this, but she knows she needs to tell them. 

“I never wanted to dye my hair in the first place,” she explains. “It was… Mom’s idea.”

Her siblings look at her, wide-eyed.

“Mom made you dye your hair?” Edric asks, sounding horrified.

Amity nods, not really trusting herself to speak.

“Just when I think she can’t get any worse,” Emira says furiously. “Of course we’ll help you, Amity,” she continues, more gently. “We’ll go get supplies right after breakfast, okay?”

It’s clear from their reactions that they really do care, and the knowledge makes Amity feel surprisingly emotional.

“Okay,” she agrees, giving each of them a hug and trying not to cry.

  
  


***

  
  


When the clock strikes three in the afternoon on Amity’s birthday, Luz is in position by the living room window. Nose pressed to the glass, she watches the woods anxiously for the first sign of her girlfriend’s approach. 

Everything is ready. Making the cake took Luz most of the morning, and required more than one intervention by Eda and Lilith to prevent things from going disastrously awry, but they got there in the end. Now that it’s iced and decorated, it looks pretty good.

Willow and Gus showed up at around one to help decorate. The three of them have strung up streamers and balloons, and Willow’s used her plant magic to create a few flower arrangements which are distributed around the living room. They’ve set out lots of snacks, and Gus has prepared a magic banner that reads “Happy Birthday Amity!”, which he’ll set off when Amity walks in.

The twins aren’t here yet, but they’re with Amity. They’ll arrive later, to avoid suspicion.

Luz has been at the window for the past five minutes, ready to give the signal. Suddenly, she spots movement at the edge of the trees. 

Frantically motioning for everyone to hide, Luz checks the time and notices with a smile that it’s still 3pm exactly. Her girlfriend is nothing if not punctual.

Once she’s satisfied that everyone is in position, she heads out to meet Amity. 

As she waves at her girlfriend from across the clearing, Luz gets a closer look at Amity and blinks in surprise, wondering if she’s seeing things. 

Amity’s hair is different.

She’s wearing it down, which Luz loves. But that’s not what’s changed. 

Amity’s hair isn’t green anymore. Instead, it’s a warm golden-brown, the color Luz remembers from the younger version of Amity that she saw inside Willow’s mind.

“Amity, your hair!” she squeals in excitement, rushing to meet her girlfriend. “You dyed it back to your natural color!”

Amity smiles shyly, looking self-conscious but pleased. “I decided it was time,” she says. “Ed and Em helped me do it. Do you like it?” she asks, running her fingers through her newly brown locks.

“I love it!” Luz exclaims, beaming at her. “It looks wonderful.”

“Thanks,” Amity says, blushing. “I’m sure I’ll be in trouble with my mom when she gets back, but I’m not going to let her bully me into dyeing it any more. And the twins promised to back me up, so there’s that.”

“I’m really proud of you, Amity,” Luz says, and she really, really means it. “Hug?” she asks.

“Always,” Amity says, stepping forward to wrap her arms around Luz.

Luz melts into the hug for a few moments, before remembering that there are people waiting for them. “Let’s go inside,” she says, pulling away so that she can take Amity’s hand and lead her into the house.

  
  


***

  
  


As she follows Luz into the Owl House, the first thing Amity notices is that it’s unusually dark inside for the time of day. Then-

“SURPRISE!”

Amity yelps in shock as Willow, Gus, Eda, King and Lilith burst out from behind the couch. At the same time Luz pulls open the curtains, letting light back into the room, and Amity can see that it’s filled with decorations. There’s even a banner that reads “Happy Birthday Amity!”, which looks to have been produced by Gus.

“Happy birthday, Amity!” Luz exclaims, returning to her side. “Welcome to your surprise party. I hope you like it!”

Amity can only look around her in awe. “You did all this for me?” she asks quietly.

“Well, yeah,” Luz says, as if the answer were obvious. “I mean, everybody helped.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Luz,” Eda pipes up. “This was all you.”

Suddenly, Amity puts two and two together. “Is this why you were so busy all week?” she asks.

Luz nods. “I’m really sorry about that,” she says. “But I wanted everything to be perfect and there was just so much to do…”

Amity cuts her off, wrapping her girlfriend in a bone-crushing hug. She’s completely overwhelmed. 

_ Luz really did all of this… for me? _

“Thank you, Luz,” she chokes out, trying not to cry.

“It was my pleasure,” Luz says. She doesn’t let go right away, seeming to sense that Amity needs a moment to collect herself. She’s good like that.

The moment is broken by the arrival of the twins, and Amity is grateful for the interruption. It takes some of the attention off of her, giving her a bit more time to get her emotions in check.

“You guys knew about this?” she asks them, impressed by how well they managed to keep it secret.

“Sure did,” Edric says. “It was our job to keep you busy this morning, so you wouldn’t show up early and ruin the surprise.”

“Yeah, we had a few things planned, but then you went ahead and provided your own distraction,” Emira adds, fingering a few strands of Amity’s newly brown hair.

“Our handiwork,” Edric explains to the group, pointing at her head. “Amity asked us to dye her hair this morning.”

“It looks great, Amity,” Willow says. “Just like I remember it.”

Amity smiles at her former best friend, feeling emotional again. It means a lot to her that Willow is here. On an impulse, she hugs her. 

“Thanks,” she says.

It’s only after she’s done it that she realizes she probably should have asked Willow first. Their relationship still isn’t one hundred percent repaired, after all. She’s about to pull away and apologize, but then Willow hugs her back.

Amity glances over at Luz. Her girlfriend is smiling at the two of them, and now  _ she’s  _ the one who looks like she’s about to cry.

“Alright, enough mushy stuff,” Eda complains good-naturedly. “I thought this was a party!”

The party gets underway in earnest after that. Luz puts on some music, and they eat snacks, and play party games - some that Amity knows, and others that Luz teaches them - and just generally have a good time hanging out together. Edric and Emira are on their best behavior, refraining from calling Amity ‘Mittens’ or otherwise teasing her in any way.

Eda and Lilith make dinner for the group, and then after dinner Luz brings out a cake. She sings Amity a song called “Happy Birthday”, which is apparently a key element of birthday parties in the human realm. There are candles in the cake, and Luz instructs Amity to blow them out. “Make a wish!” she says. 

Obediently, Amity blows out the candles. But she doesn’t need to make a wish. Her wish is standing right here in front of her, smiling as she cuts Amity a slice of the cake that she made.

If Amity hadn’t already known she was in love with Luz, she would have definitely figured it out after today. Now, she looks at her girlfriend and feels like she’s falling in love with her all over again.

The cake is delicious. Amity still can’t believe Luz made it for her - that she did all of this. 

_ She really does care about me. _

Of course, Amity doesn’t need a party, or a cake. All she needs is Luz. But seeing all the effort Luz put into this… it’s obvious that their relationship is important to her. Just like it is to Amity.

That strange not-quite-ache in her chest is stronger than ever.

_ I love you,  _ she thinks, watching Luz attack her own slice of cake. She has frosting on her nose, and she looks adorable. Amity reaches over to gently wipe it off, grateful for the excuse to touch her girlfriend. 

_ I love you so much, Luz, and I’m going to tell you. Today, and tomorrow, and every day after that. _

They finish eating the cake, and soon afterwards the party starts to wind down. The twins and Willow and Gus all say their goodbyes and head home, and Amity wonders if she’s supposed to leave as well.

“Should I go too?” she asks Luz quietly. She’s hoping for some alone time with Luz, but she also doesn’t want to overstay her welcome.

“Actually…” Luz says, “I was thinking maybe you could stay? The night, that is. If you want to. I know you don’t have your stuff with you, but you could borrow a pair of my pajamas. That’s okay, right Eda?” she asks, addressing her question to the Owl Lady.

“As long as you obey the house rules, it’s fine with me,” Eda confirms.

Luz turns back to Amity. “What do you think?” she asks hopefully.

Amity smiles. “I’d love to.”

“Did you want to head upstairs now?” Luz asks. “I still need to give you your present, and it’s in my room.”

For some reason, she’s blushing.

“Okay,” Amity agrees, wondering about the blush. “You didn’t need to get me a present, though. You’ve done so much already.”

“I wanted to,” Luz says.

They go up to Luz’s room, and Luz quietly shuts the door behind them. Then she turns to Amity. “Do you want to sit down?” she asks, and her voice is higher than usual. “I’ll just get it.”

_ She’s nervous,  _ Amity realizes, and she wonders why. Taking a seat, she watches as Luz rummages around in the chest where she keeps her belongings. 

“Aha!” Luz exclaims, clearly having found what she’s looking for. She emerges from the chest and holds up a rectangular object, which is wrapped in plain brown paper.

“I couldn’t find any fancy wrapping paper,” she explains, joining Amity on the floor and shyly offering her the gift. “Happy birthday,” she says, blushing again. “I hope you like it.”

Amity takes it, holding it almost reverently. No matter what it is, she knows she’ll treasure it. It’s a gift from the girl she loves.

Slowly, carefully, she removes the paper. What’s underneath is a notebook, not unlike the diary she gave Luz a couple of weeks ago.

“Open it,” Luz says.

Amity does. 

On the first page, she sees an illustration of herself and Luz standing side-by-side, holding hands. The title reads:  _ The Enthralling Adventures of Amity Blight and Luz Noceda,  _ and the artwork is clearly Luz’s.

Amity turns the page, and her breath catches in her throat.

It’s a comic book. A comic book that tells the story of their relationship.

_ Luz really made this for me? _

It’s all here: the first time they met, when Luz was pretending to be Willow’s abomination. Their duel at the Covention, and its aftermath. Their adventures at the library, and on the Knee, and inside Willow’s mind. Their dance at Grom. The Grudgby game.

Amity flips through the book slowly, taking everything in. She sees herself stand up to Boscha in the lunch hall, then take Luz’s hand and storm out. The next scene is of her and Luz, hugging each other on a bench under the trees.

“That’s when I knew,” Luz says quietly, pointing at the scene. “That’s when I knew I liked you.”

Luz has captured all the significant moments of their relationship: their confessions to each other, their first date, their first kiss. Even their first fight.

Amity turns the page, and sees that Luz has also drawn scenes from the birthday party they just had. There they all are - laughing together, playing games, eating cake.

Luz has put so much work into this. Every panel is beautifully drawn and colored. It must have taken her forever.

No one’s ever done anything like this for Amity before. 

She’s felt close to tears more than once today and she’s managed to keep herself from crying, but she knows she is going to cry over this. It’s just too much. This is far and away the most precious gift she’s ever received.

In the final panel, it’s just the two of them. They’re sitting side by side, much like they are now. Luz has even drawn a tiny version of her birthday present to Amity, which sits open on her lap. They’re holding hands, and gazing into each other’s eyes, and the speech bubble above Luz’s head says  _ I love you. _

Amity looks up at Luz, wide-eyed.

“I love you,” Luz says, smiling tenderly at her.

And Amity bursts into tears.

Luz’s expression instantly morphs into one of concern. “I’m sorry, Amity - should I not have said that? I didn’t mean to upset you. Please don’t cry.”

Amity shakes her head, trying in vain to control her tears. “N-no, you d-didn’t upset me,” she manages to choke out. “These are h-happy tears.”

“Oh, okay,” Luz says, brow furrowed in confusion. “That’s good, I guess?”

Amity takes several deep, shaky breaths, trying her hardest to stop crying. “You’ve done so much for me, Luz,” she says through her tears. “Throwing me a party, making me a cake. And  _ this?”  _ She indicates the book. “This is beautiful. By far the most amazing present anyone’s ever given me. I love it. I love  _ you,  _ Luz.”

“You do?” Luz asks hopefully.

Amity nods, wiping away her tears. “I was going to tell you tonight, but you beat me to it. I should have known you would,” she says, with a rueful smile, “It’s such a Luz thing to do.”

Luz laughs. “Sorry. I’ve never been very good at hiding my feelings. But I bet you love that about me,” she teases, giving Amity a cheeky grin.

“I love everything about you,” Amity answers honestly.

Her heartfelt words seem to take Luz by surprise. There’s a pause while she looks at Amity, wide-eyed, as a blush rises in her cheeks.

Then, Luz launches herself at Amity with such force that she actually tackles Amity to the floor.

One minute, she and Luz are sitting side by side. The next, she’s on her back, with no real idea of how she got there, and she’s being slightly crushed by her equally surprised-looking girlfriend. Not that she minds, of course.

“I’m sorry! Are you okay?” Luz exclaims, raising herself up on her arms and starting to push herself off of Amity.

Amity doesn’t want her to do that. “I’ve never been better,” she says, raising her hands to Luz’s shoulders and gently holding her in place. “Now will you come back down here and kiss me? That  _ is  _ what you were trying to do, isn’t it?”

“Definitely,” Luz says, and kisses her.

This kiss is different from the others they’ve shared so far - longer, deeper, more intense. It’s the kind of kiss that says  _ I love you,  _ and Amity never wants it to end.

Eventually, they come up for air. Amity’s not really sure how much time has passed, but the sun is certainly lower on the horizon than it was.

“Want to go up on the roof and watch the sunset?” Luz asks, and of course Amity wants to. She can’t think of anything more romantic.

They climb up. It’s a little chilly on the roof, so they huddle together for warmth while they watch the brilliant reds and oranges of a late summer sunset light up the evening sky.

When the last rays dip below the horizon, neither of them makes a move to get up. Instead, they stay out a little longer, watching the twilight deepen and the first stars appear.

Luz rests her head on Amity’s shoulder. “Was it a good birthday?” she asks.

Amity nods, taking her girlfriend’s hand and giving it an affectionate squeeze.

“The best.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it - the final chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it :)
> 
> I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has read this story, and who has left a comment or kudos. I decided to take part in Lumity Month on a bit of a whim, and only had the first four chapters planned out when I started posting this story. I wasn't expecting to enjoy writing it as much as I did, and I definitely wasn't expecting it to get as much attention as it has, so thank you so much! All of your lovely comments gave me so much motivation to continue, and I actually ended up doing more prompts than I'd originally planned, because I was just having so much fun with it.
> 
> This is the end of this fic, but I am strongly considering writing a sequel, so do let me know if that's something you would be interested in :)
> 
> Please consider leaving a comment if you enjoyed! They really make my day :D


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